History 1
by Endail Woram
Summary: I didn't know where to put this. This probably has nothing to do with young wizards. I just thought this was the best place for this story. This story is about Grace Willows and her struggle to find her place in two worlds.


This text is restricted. Only Masters of the Order may view these texts at any time they wish. Should you happen upon this document and are NOT a Master of the Order, then close this immediately and return it to a Master of the Order or to the Head Librarian for safe retrieval. This way, no harm may come to you.

If you are a Master of the Order, the please realise that there can be no reading of this text in the presence of anyone except for another Master of the Order.  
If you are reading this in the presence of another, then the punishment for both you and the unauthorised reader is death. Any unauthorised copying and/or reading of this text is banned for all Masters and anyone else who reads this, your life is now forfeit if you continue reading.

TO THE MASTER OF THE ORDER:  
If you are reading this, then sign here

To sign here means you release the Order from any responsibility and damages that the texts causes you and you agree to the following conditions  
∙To not read or copy any piece of this text  
∙To read this only in the presence of another Master or in solitude  
∙To not reveal to anyone that you are reading these texts  
∙To not damage these texts as they are under your care ∙Return to the Head Librarian without damage

By signing above, you are agreeing to the above terms. NO EXCEPTIONS.

**_Are you ready for this? It's time for a history lesson._**

_Foreword from Josh Rocker, Member of the Order of the Sun, Master of the Order of the Sun Council and chairman of the Uluru magical restoration project, survivor of the Great Nuclear War._

This text is banned from the lower ranks of the Order of the Sun for a reason. The new students to their magic are unprepared for this tale, and as such, vulnerable. This tale is about a certain female human, who fought through many wars in order to bring peace to the Earth, the Galaxy and the Universe. Such service can be rewarded materially, but the author of these texts has gone one step further. The author has immortalised her story on paper and ink. This tale takes you to the farthest places in the galaxy and universe. This story can lead to destruction. The Masters of the Council have read these texts. They are read because they are educational. They are read because the past has an ugly habit of biting one in the backside if they are not careful. For this reason, you must be careful, and not believe anything you read. The magic held within these covers is a magic that corrupts. If you think of putting these texts away, then please do so. The author himself admits that he is a liar, I believe that he is, and most of the higher members of the Order too as well. Those who believe him are stronger than everyone else, but are less stable. Those who do not read this text are the strongest of all; however the lure of this story is too strong to many people. It is as if the author has put a spell of compulsion over everyone who sees these texts.  
This story is about one woman who gave up everything to bring peace. Remember, and read these words carefully: Do not trust the author. Do not trust anything you read, and most importantly, remember that the author is a liar. Here is the Text that has claimed the sanity of many people...

From the Author,

These texts are dangerous to conservatives, and I can tell from writing this, that the Order of the Sun will confiscate every single copy of my work, because they are scared of the truth. When they have done so, they will kill me. In all my years, I have written much about this woman. Grace Willows was her name. Over the course of my life, so far eighty six years, I have written about her many times. I have portrayed her many times, but I will now write about her without misconceptions, without lying about anything, about myself, her, her friends, allies and enemies. I will portray them as in real life, and this will not be changed. I have made sure, by allowing a friend to cast a spell, so nothing can be changed, unless it's by my hand. But someone will probably find a way around this spell, however strong my friend claims it really is. I really got him doing this because I thought that this would be the only way to┘ anyway, I get distracted. I will give you fair warning now. This will be my one and only warning, and my warning is this: never trust anything you read. I can say this as I know that the Order of the Sun will try to erase some of the bitterest memories of this tale, and so I feel comfortable saying this: everything I say is a complete and utter lie. It is your choice to continue reading and be lost in this tale forever, or stop now, and remain forever curious about the contents of this book. What you are about to read is a story of the past and present and future, and a possible future if people do not change now. The purpose of this is to tell you that this story is history - true history and not history written by the victors of the greatest war ever. This is her story: her true story - the story without lies and pure truth. This is the story of Grace Willows and the Great War. The War that will bring peace to Earth and the galaxy and the universe. People across the starts, both human and non-human, will fight together to bring a ray of light to the future and give it as a gift to their children. No charge except perhaps their life if they are unlucky.

I wrote this tale, under the knowledge, that if I ever was discovered, I would be killed. Not by the villains of this story, but by another party, who are interested in stability and peace, and are willing to do anything to keep this peace and stability that rules now.

This tale is true in every detail, but everything I say is a lie. This story is a betrayal of my vows to secrecy, but in my dying days, I will break these vows and gain my freedom.  
I will tell falsehoods to lure you into traps, everything is hidden and nothing is hidden. Everything is false, but by the same token, true. There are pitfalls to hinder your progress towards true understanding of the world and the universe. Wisdom is held in the organ between the two ears of yours.  
There are things beyond imagination in this world: supernatural creatures, aliens, or more specifically, extra-terrestrial species, magic and more. There is technology beyond knowledge of this moment. But in one moment, the galaxy convulses and war breaks out. In this one moment, the Universe will collapse. Life will change. From the beginning of the War, everything changes.

Beyond the Solar System, other races or beings, human and otherwise - prepare for war. This is the story of the Last Black War and the War that will leave you horrified and cold. This is a tragedy, a comedy and a story all at once. Entire races were destroyed. Others are out for revenge┘ Unbeknownst to all people on Earth, people everywhere prepare for war┘ The following is a piece of text taken from The Book of Wisdom, written by the Master's of the Order of the Sun. This Book has been written in by each and every Master from the Order. What you are reading here is a piece of that sacred book.

War was rampart throughout Europe. Gregory watched as the war recommenced for another day. Everything was wrong. War was wrong. He wasn't meant to be there. Then Charlie cut through his ruminations. "The trap is set Greg. Do you hope she takes it?" Gregory looked up at him. "For our sake, I hope so." Gregory looked away. This got Charlie's attention, "what is wrong?"  
"Another vision." Gregory looked troubled now. "A vision of doom." He continued staring at the battlefield.  
Charles looked at him intensely. "Tell me." Gregory looked at the sky, as if praying for a miracle and recited,  
"The Black Army will rise again.  
She will rise again.  
She will fall,  
Then the darkness comes"  
Charlie looked at Gregory with nervously. "Then what do we do?" He shuddered. "I cannot think of anything to do"  
Gregory turned back to look at Charlie. "Try to change the future, so the Order will not die. I saw the world crash and burn. The Order died." He nearly collapsed.  
"Impossible." Like many, Charlie believed the order to be invincible.  
"No. If we do not fight in that war, then the Order dies. I did not see what would happen if we did fight"  
Charlie's voice grew hushed. "What else did you see?" "The Dark Lady, central to everything. It all depends on her rediscovering herself"  
"But she cannot be told anything if this works"  
"She will not be told. She will reconnect to herself. But will forget her true abilities"  
Charlie's voice grew stronger, "So she will be weaker than before"  
"Yes"  
"And this is acceptable"  
"It is"  
"Then let the battle begin."

Gregory watched carefully as the trap took place, as the comet started to pass overhead.  
"Everything goes according to plan does it not Will"  
William Scrape turned around to face Gregory. "It goes well. She has bought into the trap. It will be a matter of time now"  
The Dark Lady was caught in the trap. She snarled as she fought desperately. Despite her being the enemy, Gregory had to admire her efficiency at killing and defending herself at the same time. She had made herself a large ring, ten bodies or higher, around her, and was using them as a shield while she killed everyone else around her, then the bodies of the dead flew up onto the piles and solidified into rock, or flew into holes in the wall. Spare appendages that were not used were sent flying around, kicking and strangling others who she didn't kill. Gregory paused, and then pointed at the wall. Air flew at his command and hit the wall. It collapsed leaving The Dark Lady buried underneath a large pile of rubble and discarded pieces of bodies. The last of the Black Army was destroyed, demoralised by the fall of their leader.

She was now at the mercy of the Order of the Sun, but unfortunately, rather than executing her, they decided to erase her memories and lock them away, where she wouldn't find them, until she was told of her past and broke the bonds holding her mind prisoner. She was brought into a holding cell, where she woke up. Her fury came out of her as air and lightning bounced around inside the cell uselessly. Outside, unseen, the Council whispered the words to the spell. With the comet's passing, the spell was complete. Inside, a quiet came, and someone crying could be heard...

This extract is all I could gain from The Book of Wisdom. Here is her true story: The story of Grace Willows. Let me describe her. She was 24 years old, black hair, short and thin. She always wished she was that bit taller, but she was happy with her lot in life. She had a FiancИe, was comfortable with him and was just window shopping and talking, just doing her stuff. Then her life changed when she met two men. One with red hair and the other, wearing a black scarf...

Grace Willows walked into the video store. The DVD she had was weird. Someone had slipped in a small movie, with only one person talking. It was like half a conversation. Her mind still played parts of it in her head repeatedly. The guy on the movie was tall, thin and red hair, but he had a bit of a long nose that slightly curved upwards and his skin had the appearance of wax.  
"Sorry to disappoint, but there is no surprise"  
"Well I can hear you"  
"My kitchen." Grace loved that one, she found it hilarious.  
"Don't tell anyone. Or they might end up dead"  
"I am so brilliant!" Grace had to laugh. The guy thought quite a bit about himself.  
She returned the DVD, and told the man on counter about the movie. He looked surprised. Grace then turned and walked out of the video store and turned a wrong corner.

A tall thin red man turned a corner as if expecting someone to come barrelling past to kill him √ and in a sense, he was correct. Someone was trying to kill him. Well, someone's or somebody's or everybody's. Sometimes life wasn't fair. Then he spotted a short girl with black hair and blue eyes. This wasn't supposed to happen! He had to warn her though. Except how to talk to her was another matter altogether...

Grace then turned a corner and walked into someone, quite by accident. Or so it seemed to her.  
"Sorry. Didn't see you there. It can't be."  
She was still a bit dizzy, "who"  
"I'm sorry. Thought you were someone else"  
Grace then looked directly at the man she walked into. He was a tall man. Red hair and was thin. She thought if you were any thinner, you would be blown over by a good breeze mate. You look like that guy on the DVD I just borrowed.  
"I beg your pardon." He said quickly. "Sorry." He started rummaging around in his pockets. "Here's something to say sorry," he said and he gave her a DVD, and Grace looked curiously at him.  
Then she got her mouth moving, "how many people walk around with DVD's in their pockets, and how can your pockets be so big inside, when they have tiny pockets on the outside"  
Reddy, she nicknamed him, replied, "You wonder who does? Well, I do, and that is my apology for my actions. Also, my pockets extend inside my jacket"  
"You're not wearing one"  
"Yes I am. It's this top here." He indicated his shirt he was wearing, which looked more like a t-shirt than a jacket.  
"And this is a jacket." She said sarcastically. Then a bit more seriously, she added, "it looks more like a t-shirt to me"  
Reddy looked over his shoulder. "If you say so"  
"I do." Grace said. Then curiosity took over. "So, what's this DVD about?" Reddy looked back at Grace.  
"This is a really good movie if I do say so myself." He looked a bit proud of the box she held.  
Grace looked curiously at him. "What movie is this"  
"Something a few others and I have been working on. It's called 'The Secret War' or something like that." He turned around as if expecting someone, or something. "You can call me when you finish watching it and tell me what you think. Phone number is on the back." He He started walking off, then turned around. "Oh, by the way. There is a little surprise on that DVD. If you can find it, then you get a present. You get to go to Hollywood and watch the sequel being made." He then looked over his shoulder. Someone started walking down the alleyway. "Oh crap. Anyway, gotta go. Bye"  
He ran off through a door to the side and closed it behind him.  
Then someone else walked through. Grace could tell that he wasn't a normal person. He wore a black scarf in summer. It was 400C, and he was wearing a scarf. The sunnies, she understood though. It was a bit bright in the alleyway. The man spoke softly to her. "Did you see a man with red hair, really thin go past here? Looked a bit like Michael Jackson"  
"No. He didn't look like him, except he was missing the Michael Jackson nose. Erm┘ But sorry. Er... Who are you?" She asked.  
"My name..." He paused as if thinking it through. "My name is Ricky Lee. Right, okay... Sorry about this." He looked around the alleyway. "It's just I thought I saw you with someone who looked..." He trailed off. "You were talking to him." He said suddenly. Grace took an involuntary step backwards. "You were, weren't you? Please be honest." He said, except his voice had risen a bit, so it sounded as if he was giving an order rather than a request.  
"Yeah I was." Grace admitted, then paused and added on, "What of it"  
Ricky, if that was even his real name, looked at a red door that Reddy had disappeared through. "Be careful around him. He is more trouble than you think." He said. Then he pointed at someone on the other side of the alleyway. He then turned his attention back to Grace.  
Grace looked at him more carefully. "Why"  
"He brings death and destruction wherever he goes. For your sake, do not contact him again. Don't even attempt it."

A tall man, thin with red hair listened to the entire exchange. He swore under his breath, then remembered about his enemy's impressive hearing. She should be okay. They don't kill until the second time at least. I hope she's okay. I wonder what she is doing here. He mused. She was supposed to take a different route home. He took a sniff through his nose, and found himself choking on some rotten smell, meaning the Hunter was still around. Then he sent his mind outside, not feeling anything dangerous, but he knew better than to think that his enemy had walked off. He started to walk away quietly, because the enemy might be there still. Then the door blew itself open, and he was thrown backwards into a wall. He blacked out.

Grace was running back to her house while Reddy ran somewhere else. In the distant background, something exploded. Probably a car backfiring, except it didn't sound like it. But it was the most logical explanation. Her boyfriend was still out. Probably partying with some of his mates. She walked down to the pub where she knew her boyfriend liked to party with his friends. Sure enough, there he was looking like he was having the time of his life. Celebrating something. But it looked like he would be busy for a long time, and so she felt happy for him. She left the pub and walked back to her house, which was only a few roads across. Without warning, something screeched very loudly and a large mushroom shaped fire cloud rose up, except no one saw it.

Grace walked back into her and Jeff's house. It was a medium sized house. The entrance hall had bricks around the entire room. There was a small staircase that led downstairs to the pool room, the laundry and the garage. There was another staircase that led up on the right of the room. It led to the lounge room, dining room and living room and kitchen. On the left, there was another corridor that led to the bedroom she and Jeff used. Along that corridor was the study. It had a small room upstairs that had their computers. Further along the corridor was another staircase that led to the kitchen/living room. But halfway down the corridor was a bathroom and toilet and the end of the corridor was two spare rooms that was used to hold their stuff that they didn't need, or until their lifestyle needed that stuff. One of the cats meandered up to her and started purring loudly. She took that to be a good sign. Grace decided to make the most of it. Might as well watch that DVD he gave me. It might be good. He said it was, but I don't know. It might be really crap though┘ Grace sat down in front of the TV and started watching the movie, with a cat on her lap, the other cat lying on the floor in front of the TV.

The movie was about two hours long. And she thought it was very good. Someone or some people had gone through a lot of trouble to make this. It had good sound and picture quality to it. Grace turned the box over in her hand. The title was 'The Secret War'. Then she spotted a little light on the TV screen, moved the cursor over to it and pressed enter. Then, to her surprise, Reddy was on the screen, sitting down in front of her.  
"Okay. You found the little secret. Sorry to disappoint, but there is no surprise. It was a hoax." Grace looked at him, and turned to switch the TV off.  
"Wait! Before you go, I need to talk to you"  
"Okay," Grace said. "It's like you can hear me talk"  
Reddy looked at her directly. "Well I can hear you"  
"What?" This burst out of Grace, not as something she said normally, but it was three hundred times louder.  
The man in the DVD looked at her. "Well, not hear you speak vocally, but I have a fair idea of what you might say." He looked smugly at her.  
"Then, what else do you know?" She asked.  
"Um... not much Grace." He threw the name like a bullet, but it failed to hit home.  
"You called me by my name. You know my name?" She looked around for identifying details, but saw none.  
"Yep. I know your name. Big deal. Names aren't very important." He said. "Hey, can we get some coffee around here?" Someone off screen asked.  
Reddy looked towards the hidden speaker, "there's coffee downstairs. Check downstairs first"  
Grace looked at Reddy's surroundings. "Where are you taping this from"  
Reddy's face reddened, "my kitchen." Grace started laughing. Reddy started to look angry, "OI!" he yelled. "I don't have any place better, so if you have a better idea, then I'd like to hear your suggestions." After that, he started to calm down and then he stood up and stretched a bit.  
Grace looked around quickly for bugs, but didn't see any. Not that she could anyway. "I thought you couldn't hear me"  
Reddy then turned to look out of his window. "But I can see you." He said and looked back at the TV screen.  
Grace's blood turned cold. "Where are you"  
"I told you, in my kitchen." Reddy was now looking back at the TV screen.  
Grace heard her boyfriend, Jeff Coustins, walk into the house.  
"Hey! Whatcha watching missy? I hear someone talking to you! You can't be on the phone, that's been flat for three hours..." He trailed off.  
"I found this weird thing here."  
Reddy whispered to her, "don't tell anyone. Or they might end up dead. Don't tell anyone, hide the DVD." Grace had forgotten about Reddy. "Tell anyone, and they die. The most important thing for you is to watch this by yourself when no one else is watching or can hear this. The DVD is ejecting itself." The DVD tray popped out as soon as Jeff walked in. Jeff was a sort of man who was intimidating at first, but became less so as you grew to know him. He was really tall, was a bit fat and loved to wear sunglasses. Grace often told him to lose some weight, but Jeff never did. He couldn't be bothered was his excuse and it made Grace love him even more than before.  
"What was that"  
Grace surreptitiously hid the DVD box under the couch, "nothing. Why?" She arranged her features into an inquisitive look. "You said something in here was weird." Jeff started looking around the room. He slowly made his way towards the couch where the DVD box was hidden. "Um... that was because this baby outside has a mono brow! Can you believe that?" Grace said wildly, clearly improvising.  
Jeff looked at her unconvinced. "Right, baby with a mono brow, and I am George W. Bush. I know you're lying about something." The phone rang. "I'll get it." He walked out of the room to get the phone.

The Hunter stood where the door blew open. Fire came up, framing him. The tall man with red hair sat there. He dampened the flames quickly, preparing to kill him. Then his enemy started to take the glasses off. This isn't good. I think it's time to go, he thought.  
"Oh, crap. Bye then!" He shouted this, and then he took off in the other direction, throwing bits of scrap from the door behind him. He heard the Hunter stalking him through the building. Left or right? I think┘ Left! He continued to run hard. He looked over his shoulder, and saw the Hunter turning the corner. He swore a long line of expletives that would make anyone blush with embarrassment under his breath. Then he threw a fireball at the Hunter who blocked it, and sent a bright beam towards him, which he stepped to the side. The beam started moving towards him. He changed the beam's direction, and it hit the Hunter in the chest. He heard it scream, but no one came to investigate. It was a high pitched scream that humans couldn't hear, unless their hearing was magically augmented. He stared at the remains of his enemy. The beam was so intense, that nothing was left except for a small pile of bones. So, this man walked around the building and then tried to find another exit, so he wouldn't have to kill any other Hunters, because it was possible that there were a few more around the place. He was still looking for the exit even after about half an hour of looking, because he didn't want to come back the way he came. Then he gave up after another fruitless half hour of looking around. Screw it. Guess it's back the way I came in. He found the entrance and left. That hunter is dead, and it's good to know it will stay like that. Now to get outta here before someone sees this place. Wonder what they will say when they see that the inside looked like it was bombed harder than Iraq. He ran. Behind him, the building was destroyed in a large mushroom of fire.

"Grace?" Jeff called from the kitchen, "it's my mum." He turned back to continue the call. Grace looked in surprise, because Jeff's mother never called them. She (His mother) thought her an evil cow who was also probably a whore from Westings House. She refused to call after Jeff started dating her, then after he asked her to marry him, she cut all contact with him, until now.  
She picked up another phone. Then Jeff's mother could be heard. "He's quite ill. You need to get over here quickly." She sounded quite concerned for once.  
"Okay mum. I'll be there as soon as I can." Jeff said His mum just sighed. "Leave that whore behind. Your father wouldn't want to see her. You know full well that she is a prostitute!" Jeff just gave a resigned sigh.  
"This is why I never call you, you always make things around Grace sound worse"  
"And you would know what worse is I suppose"  
"I do"  
"And that is"  
"Not while Grace is on the other side of the line." Jeff said. Grace dropped the phone, and listened to Jeff finish the conversation. "TDL was worse and believe me, nothing is as bad as that"  
He made a few noises of agreement, and then said, "Okay. Where is it?" his mother gave him an address, which she saw Jeff writing it down quickly. "I'll be there soon mum. Okay, bye then"  
Then Jeff called to her from the front door.  
"Grace? Dad's ill. He's in hospital, and I need to go visit him." Jeff grabbed at his car keys, but missed. Grace picked them up and threw them at him, which he caught. "Thanks Grace." He disappeared through the front door without any further ado.  
Grace looked at the door, and then at the TV. She found the DVD where she left it, opened the box again, and put the DVD back in the player and the DVD resumed from where it left off, with Reddy looking from out of the screen.  
"Right then... So, where was I? Oh yes. My enemy, no. No. Not that. Um┘ We were talking about... um... NAMES!" The man's face burst out into a grin. "Yes! I am a genius. Names it was. Okay, Grace. I really need you to listen to me. I know we've known each other for about 15 seconds here, making a grand total of about 20 seconds, that's allowing for the time we talked to each other in the alley way. Currently, you have about a hundred Hunters on your back. Speaking of which, I know where you live." He looked down at the floor on his side of the TV. "If I know where you live, then so do the Hunters"  
"You what?"  
Reddy looked back up. "Know where you live. And so do the Hunters. These Hunters... Um... They are dangerous. You can't kill them the way you are now. So don't try to kill them. The only thing you can do is run. To meet their gaze is death, and that's not good." Grace rolled her eyes. "Listen to me Grace, there isn't much time. You gotta get out of there now! Just run. Don't worry. You can outrun them the way you are now"  
"The way I am now"  
Reddy started to look panicky, "I'll explain later, but now, you gotta find me"  
"You have my home address? I never even told you!" She yelled at him. Reddy just stood up and looked out the window.  
"We kind of don't have time for this. I kinda have less time left than Kevin Rudd does in office"  
Grace practically screamed at him, "I do"  
"Well I don't. By the way, congratulations on your wedding in three months. Also..."  
"How do you know so much about me"  
Reddy looked sheepishly at her. "Well, um... I am brilliant"  
Grace looked sceptically at him. "You think that you are brilliant"  
"I am so brilliant! Okay. Enough messing around. The Hunters - They are dangerous"  
"Yeah. You've already said that"  
Reddy walked to the back of his kitchen, and then turned around, "you read Harry Potter"  
"Who doesn't"  
"Okay. You do. Harry Potter number two: Chamber of Secrets. The Basilisk kills with a single moment of eye contact. The Hunters do the exact same thing. Kill if you meet their gaze. If you see one, they usually have sun glasses as protection against each other and as a way of recognizing each other. They wear the same clothes and accessories: hats, glasses, and the lot. When you see one, they will instantly try to kill you. They won't care about anyone in the way when they see you. They just stare at you and throw a lot of stuff around. Try not to get in the way. When you see one or more, don't make eye contact with them. If they meet your gaze, you die. When you see one, just turn around and run. Fast as you can. Don't turn around. Just run. Run for your life. Speaking of which, there are about five hunters surrounding the house right now. So, go out the back door. Speaking of which, what's your mobile number"  
"Hunters are out to kill me and you want my phone number"  
"Yes"  
"If I ever see you, I am going to kill you"  
"I don't think you'd want to"  
"Because I said so. Mobile number"  
" Its 04 8964 8713"  
"Okay. Thanks. Now run." He made a weird running motion on his side of the screen. Someone off screen laughed at him. Reddy responded by throwing a knife at him, which came back as a paper plane. Grace just stared. "Run Grace. That's someone being an idiot. Just run!" He switched his side of the TV off.  
She ran from the house out the back door.

There was a tall thin man with red hair who watched as the Hunters closed in on the house. This man was called Author Charles. He looked at his mobile. A new entry appeared. Name: Grace Willows.  
Location: 42 Brown Street State: South Australia Country: Australia.  
Number: 0489648713 Gender: Female.  
Titles: None.  
Direction: 2890T.

Author then pressed dial. In the background, he heard something explode. Grace answered, running full pelt and out of breath. Author watched her as she ran. He teleported to another rooftop to watch her progress.  
"Hello Grace Willows here." She was still panting hard. "I'm kinda busy at the moment as MY HOUSE JUST BLEW UP!" She ended the sentence screaming.  
"Grace, calm down." Author said. "Right. First of all, I can see you, so don't panic." He teleported to another rooftop, and found the Hunters running after Grace. He threw a firebomb at them. The Hunters scattered to avoid the bomb, giving Grace some time to get clear.  
"Don't panic? MY HOUSE JUST GOT DESTROYED!" She yelled.  
"Don't yell! They'll hear you!" He said.  
Grace was on the verge of panicking, "who"  
Author sighed to himself, reminding himself that she still didn't know too much about his world. "The Hunters. They still think that you were inside, and if you're not quiet and you are too slow, then their minds will┘ no." Author felt a wave of hatred and evil hit him. He choked a bit. Then he managed to get it under control. ⌠Never mind. Grace Willows"  
"Yeah?" She replied.  
"Can you do something for me?" Author spoke fast, his heart hammering in his chest.  
"Yeah, what is it?" She asked. "Just run. Run for your life. Run. Fast. To the end of the street and then turn left. They just found out you were not inside, and now they're come after you. And they are fast. Turn left now!" He all but yelled to the phone. Below, Grace ran. Author sighed. He hated lying to people, but it was necessary.  
A fireball hit the wall behind her, exploding bricks and concrete in all directions.  
Something behind her blew up with a violent scream, and a roar of anger from three other people - if the things pursuing her, Hunters Reddy had called them - were human.

Three Hunters stood in the ruins of a house that had belonged to Grace Willows. One turned around and teleported out. The other two called their fellow Hunters and turned to pursue their prey. She would be killed or they would die in the attempt.

"Who are you"  
"Well, now's not exactly the moment. Tell you later, now run"  
A flash of lightning hit the wall just over her head. A shard hit her leg. She bit back a curse. She kept running, and a large white beam hit the wall behind her and started moving towards her.  
She looked around quickly. "Um... Where now"  
"Go to the end of the alley" Reddy instructed.  
"There's a freaking fence there!" She yelled.  
"Climb over it!" He replied, seemingly calm.  
"Run! They're gonna catch you! Quickly!" He yelled.  
Grace started to look back, but Reddy stopped her by saying, "don't turn around! They kill with a single glance"  
Grace ran, without looking behind her. Something blew up behind her, and something screamed loudly. She let out an involuntary scream because it startled her. "What was that"  
"Hunter screaming." Reddy said with disturbing calmness. "You shouldn't be able to... not after..."  
"After what?" She asked.  
"Don't worry." Reddy said unconcerned. "Turn left and head onto the street. They can't kill without alerting the authorities"  
"The police"  
"No, not the police. By the time they get here, they'll have killed you." He continued as if nothing he said concerned her. "I'll explain later. Cross the road. Third alley on the left"  
Grace looked back. The Hunters had put their sunglasses back on and were walking rapidly to catch up. "Why don't they kill me now?" She turned around and saw a large grey building. To her surprise, it suddenly grew legs and arms and started stretching. Grace yelled out loud in surprise, causing people around her to look at Grace, obviously not being able to see that grey skyscraper. Through it all, Reddy was still talking to her about Hunters. "┘because they are assassins. They operate very quietly. Meeting their gaze will be enough to kill you. Very subtle. That's enough about the Hunters, now run Grace." Grace ran. "I said RUN!" Reddy yelled. Grace ran harder. The street behind her blew upwards, as a pipeline burst, but to Grace, it was not accidental.  
Then Reddy's voice came over the phone: "Turn into the alley. Third door on the right"  
Grace found the door. It was a large blue door that stood out on a dull grey building. She wondered why people could walk by and miss it completely. She tried to open the door, but she couldn't.  
"It's locked!" She yelled.  
"No it isn't... Oh wait. It is." Reddy ran to the door. "Hold on. I need to remember how this lock goes..." He mumbled to himself. "Give me a minute!" He called to Grace.  
"I may not have a minute!" Grace screamed back.  
"Patience, mistress impatience." Grace could hear the key scraping the door.  
"Hurry up! They're nearly here!" A fireball came barrelling at her, she ducked and it hit the wall above her, spraying concrete, brick pieces and pieces of everything in the dustbin close by.  
"Hold on! Nearly done... There! Got it! It's unlocked, now get inside. Hurry! Get inside! Sorry about that." It was the same man she walked into on the street and the same guy from the DVD. He walked outside, exchanged fire, literally fire with some unseen attacker. He stepped back as something resembling a flamethrower was fired on him. He caught the fire into a large ball and sent it back down the alley. Something threw a lightning bolt, which he made no effort to block. It merely hit him, and he threw his hand forward. Something blew apart and he walked back in satisfied. Grace just stood there.  
"You like dramatic endings?" She demanded.  
"No." Reddy shook his head apologetically. "That was an accident. It was supposed to be unlocked." He shot a dirty look to some hidden observer. Grace slammed the door shut and turned around "The door is bright blue and it stands out like a pimple on a pumpkin." She said after she calmed down. Adrenaline still pumped through her after her flight. Reddy walked over to her.  
"There is a disillusionment spell on that door. No one can see it unless they are a member of the Order, or they have been invited here, like you were." Grace shook her head.  
"I wasn't invited. I got forcibly pushed here." She said.  
Reddy smiled at her.  
"All right." She said after a moment. "Who are you and what are you, and its not often I get to say that"  
Reddy bowed to her. "I am Author Charles. I am responsible for the demise of your house." He got that far before Grace hit him. "You deserved that." Reddy made no attempt to parry the accusation. Grace calmed down after a long time, and she looked around the room. Instead of it being small, she found it was huge! "How did you get the inside of the building to be so big when the building outside is only a small apartment building?" She asked. Author laughed. "Like my pockets, it has an undetectable extension spell that makes the insides bigger." Grace stared at him, and after another lifetime, she felt able to talk.  
"That's your name. Author Charles." She said. It didn't sound right.  
"Yes, and I am not an actual author." Author (if that was his real name) walked around Grace to lock the door.  
"I gathered as much"  
"So what is it that you do"  
Author nearly smiled. "Magic"  
Grace took a step back. "I somehow don't believe you"  
"Grace, I am telling the truth. It's like... um... er... Harry Potter"  
Grace looked at Author sceptically. "Harry Potter"  
"Yes. Similar to that. It's not quite Harry Potter. They can't make food, but we can out of thin air anyway. Basically, we can do nearly anything. Extra-terrestrial beings, magic and so on and so forth"  
"So, you're saying that there are aliens. That is even harder to believe"  
"Grace, you saw your house be destroyed spontaneously. If I was to show you the path where you ran, there would be huge holes in walls where lightning and fire hit after you avoided them. Would you say that there is no such thing as magic"  
Grace looked at the door. "Fair point, but some of these can be explained"  
"True. House - gas explosion, I suppose. The holes in the walls? I don't think so"  
Grace still looked about the building. "This building looked a little run-down from the outside." Author started pacing back and forth, annoying Grace slightly. "Also, how the hell did you have a DVD in your pocket if you weren't wearing a jacket"  
Author laughed. "Firstly, that was an undetectable extension spell. It makes my pockets bigger on the inside than the outside looks like." Grace sighed. "Secondly, that was the intention"  
Grace looked at him. "What intention"  
"The damaged building. This is the headquarters for the Order of the Sun. We are devoted to building peace and fighting to preserve peace. We will give our own lives for peace." He wasn't halfway through his speech, before someone else walked in.  
"Who's this Author? Another stray"  
"Get off it Carol. This is Grace Willows"  
"Hi Grace." Carol was all smiles and laughs now. Unfortunately, Grace wasn't.  
"Get lost"  
"Oh, she's a feisty one." Carol laughed. "Okay, she doesn't want to talk. I'm sorry, but I made a mistake. I thought you liked to talk"  
"I do like to, just not now. I kinda have a lot to think about now"  
"Okay. I'll leave you be." Then Carol whispered to her, "You haven't realised what you really are yet. Be patient. All will be explained." He straightened up. A tall man in a white robe walked in. "Author, we need you to report now"  
"Sorry Grace. Won't be a minute." Author walked off, Carol following him closely.  
Well great. A bunch of guys who talk about stuff I don't know about. I wonder if they have anything to drink.

Author walked into the Main Council Chamber.  
"You are late." Twelve people turned and stared at him. Author never liked the Council. They always got in the way of everything he did and ruined everything he planned.  
"You must report what you found"  
Author started talking, and the Council listened carefully for once.  
He talked for about half an hour, before one asked something. Author had to think, to answer the question, but it seemed it caught on to everyone else, and then in a space of five minutes, he was being bombarded by questions, with no time to breathe. Author was silently fuming inside his head. He wanted to be out there fighting, not stuck inside being bombed with hundreds of questions. There would be a time when action was needed, and Author planned to be there.

Grace looked at the door which Author had disappeared through.  
"Can I get you something? It looks like you need a drink I believe"  
Grace looked at the talker. The speaker was an African. Bald and a bit handsome in her opinion. "God, yes. I needed one ages ago." The African nodded.  
"Okay. Anything in particular?" The African asked.  
Grace thought for a minute. "What is there"  
"Coke, Fanta, Lemonade. Basically every single drink there is in this galaxy"  
Strange statement she thought.  
He answered her thoughts as if he had heard them, "there is more to the galaxy than this world. We are not as alone as you think"  
"Okay." Grace looked at him more carefully, and found the African staring intently at her. It sort of scared her. Oh crap. He can read my thoughts. She decided to translate her thoughts into speech. "Are you reading minds now?" Grace asked.  
He nodded. "In a manner of speaking yes." "That's how you knew." "Exactly." Okay. Better keep everything under control now.  
The African turned and said over his shoulder, "yes. You'd better. Otherwise, you will be at risk. I'll get you a Coke." He walked off leaving Grace looking at him confused.

Author walked up to the African while he was walking to get Grace's coke. But Author had to talk to him. "Bolle, not giving her a hard time with that entire mind reading stuff again"  
"No." Bolle, the African, looked startled. He still had that guilty look that Author learned to associate with him, he always shifted his weight onto his left foot and leant on it.  
"Yes. I think you were." Author said. "She had that look of 'Oh crap. He can read my thoughts' look about her"  
Bolle looked away. "No, she's ok. I' m going to get her a drink." He stumbled on the uneven floor. Author caught him. They continued walking as if nothing had happened. Then they turned into a secret corridor and exited the Council Domain and entered the Habitation Domain of the building.

Back outside the Council Chamber, someone walked outside to find Grace. He approached her quietly, and Grace didn't know he was there until he spoke to her.  
"Grace? The Council needs to talk to you"  
Grace looked at Bolle and Author's retreating forms. She then turned and followed the woman back inside.

The Council turned as one and looked at Grace.  
Grace spoke first. "What is going on now?" She looked at everyone, there was one empty seat. There were eleven others there. Then someone - presumably the leader of this Council spoke.  
"You. We have been discussing your special case. We have made a decision regarding your future." The others all made gestures of agreement.  
Grace slowly worked things out in her head. "So that is what is going on?" The Council nodded as one. It was a little freaky, as all of the Council members spoke as if they were one person, rather than twelve, or more precisely, eleven people.  
"What you wish to do." One said "What we request of you to do." Another continued.  
"What you must do to survive." A third said.  
"Why?" Grace looked at the council members in turn again.  
The leader spoke up again, "because you are the key winning the Great War"  
Grace looked at the supposed leader. "How am I going to do so"  
"You must fight Morse Bracken. He is threatening the peace of the world. You must learn to control your abilities"  
"Who is Morse Bracken"  
The people shifted in their seats. Then someone behind her spoke. "Bracken is the epitome of evil. He wages war against the world to create an empire. No one has succeeded in killing him, but has managed to defend against his attacks. We don't know where he plans and schemes away, but it is clear he will try again soon. He is the cause of many great disasters. The Great Famine was him, so was the Black Death - it was not caused by bacteria in rats. The London Fires was another one of his acts of evil and one of the most recent and devastating was the Boxing Day Tsunami." Grace shivered. Then the same person kept speaking. "While he lives, no one is safe. He has made an alliance with some of the lesser evils of the galaxy and they plot to take the galaxy by force"  
Grace turned around to look at the speaker. "So what else is going on? I've heard enough strange references to make a list long enough to sell and start booking culinary tours all the way to Canada." Someone else chuckled at her. "Okay. Let me put it this way." He said, "There are things beyond knowledge of the average human and there are things beyond imagination out in that black void known as space. There are extra-terrestrial beings out there √ other human colonies more commonly known as the Twelve Systems of Humans, this is the Thirteenth System of Humans. The Solar System as you know it - is actually names Sol. In fact, there are six hundred and sixty six planets inhabited by humans. I mentioned things beyond knowledge, that is the magic we use. We can create things out of nothing creating matter. We can destroy matter, energy, space and time and we can create matter, energy, space and time. We can do pretty much anything." Grace took an involuntary step back. That was impossible - she knew the laws of physics, and what they described was impossible.  
"And this is what one or all can do?" She asked.  
"Everyone has a unique talent for their magic. Someone may have Licaia's ability," he indicated a woman sitting on her left, "to walk through the Dream Plane. Others can create anything they wish, it differs from everyone. The Black Army Hunters can kill just by making eye contact with their prey. Headhunters are fast. Faster than you can imagine. You can't turn away, or look around or you die. You can't blink, or you die. That's how fast they are. The Black Army's Witches are like us. They have different talents as well"  
"So what do you think mine is"  
The leader replied, "Only time will tell. You must discover things for yourself. Now we need to talk to you about your future if there are no further questions you have." Grace shook her head. Then the leader of the Council started talking to her. "You have an ability that is not normal to say the least"  
Grace looked at him. "And that would be what"  
The woman who was introduced as Licaia spoke behind her. "Magic. I believe Author has told you this already"  
Grace nodded, "and so you think I can too"  
The eleven other people in the room nodded in unison, but only one spoke. "I think that you have potential to become one of the most powerful members of our society ever"  
"So what"  
Another girl, perhaps twenty years old spoke. "You can join our society if you wish"  
Grace turned to look at her. "What happens if I refuse"  
"Then you will live the rest of your life with your true potential undiscovered." A man sitting next to the girl said. Grace thought for one second. There was only one choice for her really. Besides, this was something that didn't come along every day. She had to give that one word that was three letters long. Yes.

Author was outside waiting. It had been hours since Grace went in and he left her. Then the door slid open, and Grace came out. She felt a bit more pessimistic now that she had left the room.  
Author talked to her back, "let's hear it then." Grace stopped and turned around. "Apparently, I need to look at some weird ability I have and I don't really believe that it exists"  
"You need to go to the Library basically." He said.  
Grace nodded. She then said, "yeah. Can you show me where it is"  
"No. I can't take you there." He said deadpan.  
"Why not?" She looked at him curiously now.  
"I'm not allowed. You need to find things yourself without being told where. You'll find it eventually. I'm sure of it. Females are good at finding things." He laughed at his own wit.  
Grace sighed. "That's stereotypical. Okay. See you later"  
She walked off, leaving Author standing behind, watching her carefully.  
Josh Rocker, Master of the Society of the Order of the Sun walked up to Author, and both watched as Grace walked away. "She is strong, but she doesn't know"  
"This is dangerous. Aren't you worried that she will find out?" Author asked. "Now, I am not so sure about letting her in on this"  
"We have ensured that she won't find out. She will know when the time comes." Josh said.  
Author looked at him. "When is that"  
"After we have moved on." Josh looked at Grace's retreating figure.  
"Meaning?" Author asked curiously.  
"I cannot say for sure. Gregory had a vision of The Dark Lady standing over Morse Bracken. He also foretold the fall of the Order, and so we have made plans for that"  
"Should she be told then? About her past"  
"Maybe not even then. Maybe not ever."

Grace saw the library was close to the entrance. By her standards, it was huge. There were people everywhere looking through books and sifting through large stacks of paper. I wonder what I have to do to find something here. It's huge! The librarian walked over to where she stood, dumbfounded.  
"Hello there. My name is Louise Loch" The librarian had a soft voice, much suited for a library. "I think you need some help here. This library has over ten million books and texts that people look over," She started to get agitated. "And with all the new people the Council finds, there are more coming in every day, and you wouldn't believe the number of jinxes I had to put on all the books. Some of these books are over 1000 years old!" She started to calm down. "Now, how can I help you"  
Grace looked at her. Louise looked like a book fanatic, but it was strange for someone to openly admit it. She finally got over it and started talking. "I need to look for something"  
"What?" It looked like the Librarian knew already.  
"I think it was _'The Basics of Elemental Play'_ By Robert Peirce"  
"You new too?" Grace made a noise that confirmed what Louise had said. She still had a lot to think about. "Okay." She said. "That book by Robert Peirce is actually titled, _The Basic concepts of Elemental play. _You can find the book two aisles down the main corridor there," She pointed straight ahead of her, "three shelves to the left, to the end of that aisle, second column from the end, third row from the bottom. It should be there. If you can't find it, then come see me and I'll give you some help finding it"  
Grace stared at her. "Thanks." I'll come for help because it's most likely I will get lost in this place.  
Grace found the book after about five minutes of searching. She started reading it, and funnily enough, it seemed that most of the work was done mentally, without physical props. She always thought this sort of stuff needed something. Some books she read like Harry Potter used wands and others used staffs. She read the book carefully, because she knew what was going on at last. The Council had blathered on about acceptance. Well, she accepted that the Council was a bunch of idiots, who rejected change. She would have to change that. The book was interesting, because it was different, compared to all the other books she had read. She found a table close by, which smelled strongly of meat cooking for a Sunday roast. She found herself feeling a bit hungry, but she had to ignore it. Grace then opened the book on the first page.

Using magic is like a big stress ball. It changes form, shape and size, but it will always revert back to the original form. Nothing is impossible for magic. The Law of Conservation of Matter, Energy and Time are all false when magic is brought into the equation. By itself, they are true. The contradiction is that they are real and they are not. But in actual fact, it is false with magic. Magic can create energy, matter and change time. Used correctly, there are many different forms of power available to someone, but only with correct usage and time.  
Grace skimmed through the rest of the book, only picking up a few small details that probably wouldn't be too useful.

The Demons are among the most evil creatures, and to fight them, do not bother with holy water found in churches. It will be worse than useless...  
She turned the page and found a diagram of a Demon torturing someone, while two smaller things were standing close by. The children of Demons are called Demon Spawn. These creatures do not care and will kill all in their paths. Their strength is twice that of the strongest man alive┘ She looked again at the picture. They were tiny. It was almost impossible to say they could kill. Kill flies maybe and spiders but not actual people. She flicked a couple of pages ahead.

The Werewolf is the most well known supernatural creature, and its weakness to silver has been confirmed. Silver Alloys will also work, but will not have as great an effect as pure silver. This form is incredibly rare, but the greatest weapons can be forged from pure Silver. The most famous being the Katana blade that was forged as a symbol of peace between the Order of the Sun and the Super Nova army.  
She looked down the page and found a Werewolf snarling at her. She shivered and looked at the next page.

Vampires are another well known supernatural creature. These will be killed by any means from a church, holy water, crucifix etc. They prefer the night as bright light directly from the sun is inimical to their nature. While they can stand sunlight, they cannot sustain it for a long period of time. Their bite can kill or transform you if you are not careful.  
The picture was of a Vampire bent over a human, and Grace didn't want to think about what it was doing. The rest of the words jumbled together and Grace fell asleep.

She woke up a few hours later, and found the book back on the shelf. She looked around, and saw no one. She found the book she was reading earlier, and started reading feeling more awake and optimistic about her situation.  
"Optimism kills. Also, magic is what goes on here, and diplomatic affairs with extra-terrestrial species." It was Bolle. How looked as if he had been standing there for a long time. "I have your drink here"  
Grace looked up from her book. "I thought you wouldn't be allowed to bring food and drinks in here." Bolle shook his head.  
"These books repel dirt automatically. People don't care now, so if someone spills something on a book or table or the floor, they get zapped. It's to make sure that people don't make a mess of the Library. Bit of a nasty surprise if you ask me. Be careful. It won't kill, but you will feel like a fish out of water the next day. Louise got really angry because people kept spilling their stuff everywhere, and leaving their trash in here. People have learned to be careful"  
Grace nodded. "I'll be careful"  
Bolle nearly smiled. "I know you will be. If there is anything you need to talk to me about, I will do my best to answer your questions about the Order and what you have to do." He sat down opposite her. "And I am not as young as I was a hundred years ago"  
"Author said you couldn't┘ wait. How old are you"  
Bolle looked uncomfortable. "The Council assigns someone to watch over someone new, so they aren't confused or get lost, which is, in my opinion, quite easy. I know you agree." Grace made a noise of agreement.  
"Also, I am 142 years old, but please don't mention it again"  
This stopped Grace cold. "Say what again"  
Bolle looked at her like he would a child. "I am 142 years old. I hope we don't talk about my age again, as I do not like the sound of 142. I prefer the sound of 32." He looked back at his book.  
Grace still had to try. "But you look like your 30"  
Bolle shook his head, "magic regenerates its host, so they don't look older than about thirty years or so." Grace had started staring at him while he spoke.  
"Wow. So it does the same for me"  
Bolle nodded. "Yes. Theoretically, if magic is unlimited, then we can live forever"  
"But we can't," she said.  
He shook his head. "No. I've yet to meet someone over three hundred years old. The more you use your magic, the younger you die. The oldest member of any society of magic is 307 years of age. The Dark Woman was about 230 years and Author is about 157 years. Grace's jaw dropped. "The average age of the Council is about 200 years." Grace nodded and looked back at her book. Bolle opened a book opposite to her, and also started reading. She started to feel slightly intimidated. She moved to turn a page, and split the drink. True to Bolle's word, the book closed itself and it screamed. Grace had never heard a book scream. That was all she heard before something came from above, delivering a large electrical shock to her. She fell unconscious on the floor. Bolle chuckled to himself and carried her to bed.

Author was back in the Council Chamber, talking to the Council at large. He was doing what he hated most: talking to the Council. "Two of the three Hunters were killed in trying to apprehend Grace Willows. I killed one; the other one was killed by not-so-friendly fire." He couldn't resist a little humour, as the Council probably didn't have a sense of humour. "They shot fire and hit the Hunter in the lead. He died pretty much instantly." One Master looked bitterly at him, "Two Hunters is nothing compared to the hundreds they have"  
"But every bit counts." Author countered.  
Carol happened to sit behind him. "So a war of attrition would be useful." As one of the tallest people of the Council, she liked to have a 'sit-and-do-things-slowly' approach, which rarely worked, but she thought it would work anywhere.  
"It would be worse than useless." Author was ready. "For every one we kill, we hear of two of our own people killed. Today, Rob got killed by a Hunter before he could fire back"  
The Leader of the Council spoke. "This isn't our fault"  
"In a way it is," Author countered.  
"And in others it isn't." The same man spoke again to him.  
Author sighed and then changed topic. "Do we have any leads on where Morse Bracken is?" The Masters seemed not to have noticed the sudden change, mind you; they were always a bunch of weird minded lunatics who never had their minds on the present.  
"Once Grace is finished studying and regaining herself and her basic abilities, then he will make a move. I'm sure of it. Then we will track him from there"  
"You're using her as bait"  
"In a manner of speaking. If there are no objections, we need you to go and look in the warehouse at Block C about 5 kilometres down the road from here. We think that one of the Hunter training facilities is there. You know the drill"  
Author bowed to the Council. He usually got tired of all the bowing and scraping to the Council. "Yes Masters." He then turned around and walked quite quickly out of the Council Chamber, with the Council sitting back in their seats preparing for another long debate about some other thing he didn't really care about. At least he was out of that blasted Chamber and he got to do something before he went insane.  
Two days later, Grace was back in the library. She wasn't very happy. She could still see where she had been zapped. There was a large scorch mark on the floor, which was slowly fading away. She shook her head, got another book she was supposed to read, and found Bolle sitting at a table a few rows down. She sat down opposite him, and looked at the book. She sighed. It was going to be a long day for her. She opened the book and started reading. The book was Advanced Elemental Play by Hr. Ray Teport.  
She looked at Bolle, who talked without looking at her. "Hr. is in the magical sense, Honourable. So his full name is the Honourable Ray Arthur Teport. He is actually really good at horror stories. I will find you one to read. I think you'd like it." She agreed, and looked down at the first page, which read:

In addition to many abilities that are derived from the ancient table of elements √ earth, fire, air and water, there are many other forms. These include the ability to walk through dreams, through the spirit world and the ability to transfigure other live creatures. Anyone can change an inanimate object, trees, food, sand etc. But only a few can change other live creatures, humans, Tetras or otherwise. Time will tell which abilities you possess. One of the most terrifying weapons is sound. Only one person in existence has this ability, the time comes one in every century. So, therefore, in the entire History of the Order, only two people have that ability. The most notable being Josh Rocker, Master of the Order of the Sun. There is an exception to this rule, being one of the most infamous people ever, The Dark Lady - infamous mass murderer of the people of China. The first part of that sentence burned its way into Grace's mind.  
_The Dark Lady - infamous mass murder.  
_Somehow, that was familiar to her, but Grace could tell it wasn't her. She shrugged and turned the page and read on, but that one sentence still at the back of her memory.  
_The Dark Lady - infamous mass murderer._  
She shrugged it off, and turned the page and continued to read.

Grace looked at Bolle, who was reading a book - title was Numerology and Metrical Power √ which seemed to be something she didn't know anything about, since this new world was opened to her. Bolle looked up from his reading, knowing what she was going to ask.  
"In answer to your question Grace, one does not always know what their special abilities are or where they lie. I can tell that there is something in your heart that is unconsciously sealed, whether by you or by someone else, I cannot know. But it is something there, and it is that which binds you. There will be a way through those bonds, but only time will tell, like all great things." He shifted his weight and, with a sigh, sat back down. Grace watched the entire display. "What do you mean?" Bolle looked away, obviously with a guilty secret of some sort.  
"Nothing. I'm sorry. I must have been dozing off." Grace didn't think so. She looked at him unconvinced. Then she spotted Bolle standing behind Bolle. What is happening? That was the question before the world turned dark.

Bolle looked back to the past. He found himself standing behind himself. He quickly froze the time, and changed the history, so no one except for he would know what had actually happened. He finished changing details, including what he said.  
"In answer to your question Grace, one does not always know what their special abilities are or where they lie. Only time will tell, like all great things." He shifted his weight and, with a sigh, sat back down. He was skilled at this. He would have to watch himself next time. Then he finished and willed himself back to the present.

Grace had changed her seating position. She was sitting in another chair, but she continued as if nothing had happened and he had never slipped. "In the future, do you mind not answering before I ask? I would like to ask the question." She looked upset at him. Bolle leaned back into his chair and nodded.  
"I will do my best to remember that, I can't promise that." He decided against saying anything else, lest he let something else slip out.  
Grace grunted in acknowledgement, and began to read again. While Grace returned to her studies, Bolle walked out to the front where Author was waiting for him. Author was relieved to see him. "How is she going?" He was all business today.  
Bolle looked at him. "Her heart is sealed by her father's hand. Why, I do not know." He looked surprised more than anything.  
Author looked uncomfortable with this news. "Does she know"  
Bolle looked directly at Author. "When the time comes, she will."

Grace had finished reading the books she was told to read. It took her about three months. She looked at Bolle happily. "Done"  
Bolle looked up from his book - the same as last time, "come with me then." He led her out of the library and then they started moving through the building. They passed the canteen, and they continued to walk through a bewildering maze of corridors.  
Bolle explained as they walked through the place, "The inside of the building serves as an atrium. The upper floors are the Council Chambers and their sleeping quarters. The lower floors are for everyone else. We are heading to a Practice Room, where you can try everything you read about," and on they walked. There was an elevator. "This elevator goes anywhere - up, down, left or right- it takes you anywhere in this place. We need to go left to the training rooms." They stepped in and the door closed.  
Where would you like to go? A small mechanical voice intoned from somewhere above them. Grace gave an involuntary shriek of surprise. Bolle looked at the map. "Training Center 3, left." Then to Grace he said, "The Council thinks you have potential. You need to practice this first. I think it will be easier than you think." He turned to the door and watched the numbers scroll down.  
Grace looked around the elevator instead. "What is an elevator doing inside a two-story house"  
Bolle shook his head. "Now is not the time Grace"  
The elevator took off. Grace watched as the walls outside the elevator turned red and then back to grey. She shook her head, knowing that Bolle wouldn't say what this was.

Author met them at the Training Center 3. "Grace, this is where you try what you read. But first, learning to actually do anything, you must want it to happen." Grace looked up at him curiously. "It is harder than you think, but when the course starts, I will show you and you can figure out a preferred way of summoning your power. Then try to finish the course. If you fail, no one will blame you, because it is tricky. Good luck. After this, I will be going to do something for a while." Author then turned around and started tapping a few commands into a keyboard close by.  
Grace then turned around to face Bolle. "Good luck, whatever it is you are doing." She then turned to look at Author, who had finished typing in whatever he had to. Bolle looked at Grace. "He is going to destroy a Hunter Training Facility." Bolle then walked out of the room, and to another room adjacent to the one they were standing in.  
Author sighed. "Just do the course. I'll answer everything later. For now, come here, and watch and learn." He then sat down and started talking.  
"I said earlier that you need to want the power. This is easy if you concentrate hard enough.

Grace had to concentrate. Author made it sound so easy, but it wasn't. She was still concentrating, until sparks flew out of her palm. Author nodded, while she jumped around excited. "Good. Now, can you focus that power and make it into a ball?" Grace sat down and started trying to figure out how. She found sparks flying out of her palm still. She pictured a ball of these sparks, and found her hand resting on a small ball of fire. She shrieked aloud, while Bolle, in the background, started laughing. It fizzled out. Grace inspected her palm carefully, but it wasn't burnt. It didn't leave a mark. She looked at her palm again and the ball of lightning appeared. Then it went out, as Author congratulated her. "That is how you fight some of the time. Other times, you need to mutter a few incantations or words to get the power required. The result is more power, but it is harder to summon in the middle of a battle, and so the method of summoning the magic to your hand is more preferable. This gets easier with time." Grace nodded. "This is harder than you make it sound." Author nodded. "Most magic is easy, but the problem with most people is in the mind. You think it is impossible. Imagine it is not, and it will happen. Focus your mind carefully on what you want to happen and thus..."  
The chair Grace was sitting on blew apart, dumping her on the floor. Bolle was laughing in the background, until Grace looked at him. She looked at his chair, and imagined it breaking apart. With a single hard thought, she destroyed his chair, dumping him on the floor,rubbing his backside remorsefully. Author nodded in approval, while Bolle started to roll around on the floor cackling at something. He stopped after five minutes, and repaired the chairs.  
"Good. You can focus your mind." Grace nodded. "You need to be able to focus if you are to finish this course." Grace looked over the course apprehensively. Bolle just shook his head and put the chairs back together. Author continued. "Control is another matter. Control allows you to use your magic responsibly, and you will not fall to the temptation of evil. Remember this well." Grace looked back at Author. She wouldn't forget that.

Two days later, Grace felt she could start. "Don't worry Grace." Author sat down near a large control panel. "It is difficult to begin, but it gets easier with time"  
Bolle looked out the window. "Grace, you can start now"  
She found herself in a long corridor. It was a small dimly lit place, and it smelt of urine and sweat. She shuddered. It took a moment to get her stomach to behave before she was able to move.  
Author's voice echoed through the corridor. "Find the way out Grace. Defeat anyone in your way and if necessary, run. Good luck"  
She started her way forwards.

She spotted a Hunter. She knew because of their sunglasses. And so, a quick attack would defeat them. She slowly walked down the corridor, and when she was could practically touch them, she fired off a fireball into the Hunter. She ran past down the corridor. She hit a trap and was thrown into the air. She hit the wall and slid down. She looked at where the trap had occurred. There was some string or something that triggered the trap. She took extra care in avoiding the traps as she moved down the corridor. Then something screamed behind her.

Bolle watched as Grace jumped and looked around her. Look up Grace. No one ever does. Grace ran, and she was pursued by a Werewolf, who was silently stalking her in the shadows.  
Grace finally felt brave enough to turn around, and there it was. Something big, but it wasn't human. Bolle's voice cut through. "Run Grace. That is a werewolf. Silver only. Nothing else can kill it, so run." Grace turned around and ran. Bolle watched as the wolf, fake of course, followed Grace. It was a trap of course, but she didn't know that. It was where most people failed.

Grace turned around. There was nothing else there, so she turned around and started walking forwards. She started to slowly make her way to the end of the training course. She dismantled a few more traps and continued on her way, occasionally listening carefully. Then she stepped on something. It was a small dagger. It gleamed brightly in the dim light. The something cold swept over her. She looked around the darkened room and found something staring at her. Bolle's voice cut over its snarling and hissing. "That, Grace," he said, "Is a Demon and two Demon Spawn. These creatures are not to be underestimated"  
Grace looked around, and found herself pinned to the wall.

Up above, observing her progress, Bolle said, "She is more powerful than the Council Masters. But she is being followed. She doesn't know it"  
"Here or real life?" He asked.  
Bolle looked at him condescendingly. "Here. It's not like I am talking about some supernatural creature or extra-terrestrial being. Wonder when she'll figure it out. But she still is strong, even after the loss of some of her abilities. Especially her most potent one"  
Author sat down on a nearby chair. "That is what they meant. She draws unconsciously on her past"  
"Does she have control?" Bolle asked.  
"A fair amount of it. She draws it from her past, or from her twin"  
This got Bolle's attention. He looked curiously at Author, then at Grace, who was still moving through the course. "Her twin sister"  
Author gave a grunt of agreement. "Yeah. Her sister also had similar abilities, but her sister, Alison, was discovered. It was assumed that her twin didn't have any ability, but it seems the Council is wrong every now and then." Bolle looked back at Author.  
"So they know each other?" Author shook his head.  
"They were separated when they were one month old. Alison and Grace have no knowledge of each other." Bolle sat down next to Author. "Does Grace know?" Author shook his head.  
"Her father, who had some ability, somehow nullified Grace's abilities. Maybe in the vain hope that he could keep one of his daughters." Author looked at Bolle. "Who could blame him?" he asked.  
"No one." Bolle replied.  
They both stood up and watched as Grace progressed further to the end, feeling uneasy about the current situation.

Grace struggled. She watched as the Demons moved closer. Then she blew up literally. The room exploded into light, and something else died with the light. Author's voice spoke calmly over the comm system. "That was a Deava. Invisible Demons, you can only see their shadow. I think you just found a way of killing one. I thought they couldn't be killed, but summoned and then sent back after they had done what was required of them, but they killed the summoner in the process if their control over them slips." Grace nodded and continued on her way, feeling more nervous.  
She found a Hunter. She had to act quickly. Except it started smelling of gas, and that couldn't be good for her. She spotted two more Hunters behind the first. Better make something fast. She threw a ball of fire at them, and the gas flamed up. The Hunters were killed and Grace was now in danger of being burnt as well...

Author walked to the door, Bolle followed his progress, while Author walked back to the observation platform. He had sparked Bolle's curiosity from earlier.  
"What were you talking about when you mentioned her father?" Bolle asked. Author looked at Bolle.  
"I meant that he had cancelled her abilities, so we couldn't identify her as someone with talent. It is a special case for her because she is older than the recommended age for a student"  
"So what about the War that will come?" Bolle asked.  
"Grace will be instrumental in saving the world. She will be ready soon. She knows control and she has a strong sense of righteousness. She will know what to do when the War comes." Author stood up again and moved to the observation platform. He then turned to watch Grace progress through the maze and course.  
"Does she yet know her own destiny?" Bolle asked after a long silence. Author thought carefully for an equally long time, before replying. His face did not look to positive.  
"I don't know yet."

Grace ran fast - and found that the gas section had finished. She watched as the flames spread out. She then turned to continue forward. She avoided a trap that would have alerted all the Hunters in the area to where she was. She continued forward unaware of her stalker.

High above in the skies, a large airplane passed over. Grand Master and Supreme Commander of the Black Armies and future Master of the Galaxy Morse Bracken was observing the Hunter's movements.  
"Are the Hunters away?" He addressed his servant, who was standing behind him.  
"Yes, my liege. They managed to corner the girl, but she escaped with some help from one of the Order. Author Charles aided her escape"  
Bracken got very angry. He forced himself to calm down and spoke more calmly, under control. "Find her. Immediately"  
The servant looked at him. "Capture or kill"  
"Preferably capture. Then she can join us. If she resists or if needs be, kill her and everyone who protects her. Don't spare the expenses. I have limitless funds"  
The servant nodded. "Yes, my liege"  
Bracken observed his personal servant, Wayne, walking away out of his office, carrying out his orders like a good servant.

Roy Wilson spoke to Josh. "She is to do what"  
Josh then looked at Roy. "She will have to destroy herself, in order to destroy Bracken"  
Caroline then cut in, "so you do have the location of Bracken, and yet you didn't tell Author"  
Josh nodded. "There was a reason for it. But it still remains. She will turn, and kill Bracken. Then we need to kill her"  
John then asked the unthinkable, "what happens if she somehow finds out who she is while doing so?" Josh fidgeted uncomfortably.  
"She won't because when my grandfather saw her in his vision," Josh said after a few minutes. "She was not who she was in the past. She is of the present"  
"Then what did your grandfather say?" Carol asked.  
Josh then stood up and walked to the center of the room.  
"The Black Army will rise again. The War will come.  
Twenty years of hell will follow and the Earth will be ringed in fire.  
She will come to put the fire out,  
And she will lose herself"  
Licaia was watching Josh raptly. "What happens then"  
Josh sat back down on his chair. "I don't know. Gregory did, but he kept that secret until the end. He never told anyone"  
Everyone suddenly felt more than uncomfortable being in that room.

Grace was watching carefully. She knew she wasn't being followed, but she could see a pair of female people. She had never seen them before. I have now seen everything. They were female and wore black robes, and they looked like a typical witch, except for the green skin and warts. One of them turned around. Grace swore quietly. The Witch shouted to her companion. Grace swore again, thinking that Author wouldn't approve. Something black fired towards her. She shrieked a bit, but managed to avoid being hit. She started to throw fire back, but another shaft was fired. This time, she threw fire at it. It blew up, scoring the enemy. The explosive energy was then turned into a large snake that hissed, until she killed the Witch with that small dagger she found.  
She was still fighting the second Witch until something hit her in the back. She then turned around and saw the same werewolf she escaped from earlier behind her.  
Author's voice came through on the comm system. "Good work Grace. Everyone fails there on their first go. A Werewolf hit you in the back. "  
"I know. I saw, but I thought I managed to shake that thing off"  
"Well you didn't. They can follow you no matter where you go, but good work trying. Silver kills them dead. The knife could have killed it. Wanna try again"  
"No thanks. I can't handle anything more for the day"  
Bolle spoke next. "Then Author will show you to your room." A door opened in the side of the corridor. She walked out. Grace looked back at the door, but the room inside was blue again. "Good job Grace. You nearly made it to the end. I think that you have had enough anyway. If you wanted to try again, I probably would have not let you try again anyway. You can try tomorrow if you want"  
"I'd probably like that." Grace replied.  
"Then Author can show you out. I'll pack up everything and shut the place down." Author walked into the room through the wall and then they exited the room.  
High above the planet, Bracken's ship flew effortless through space, entering orbit around Earth. He was positioned so no one would spot him, however someone would see him, no matter what. Bloody astronomers.  
"Sir"  
Bracken looked up. "Yes?" It was his servant.  
"The Black Army is away." He indicated the viewport, which was filled with ships slowly descending onto the surface of the planet.  
Bracken looked at his servant with approval. "Today is the beginning of the Black Empire. Savour this moment"  
The servant bowed. "It is an honour to serve. Oh, and by the way, I love the taste of success"  
"Excellent. You now know what to do." The servant bowed and left the room.  
Then his companion walked into his office. "How much longer until we are under way"  
Bracken looked up at his companion. "It will be two days before we are in position. Then we commence the attack. You may join in if you wish"  
His companion shook its head. "No. That will alert the Order. I must go and do something else. There are other prisoners I must liberate first. Make a ship ready for me." Bracken nodded and watched as his companion ran out of his office and towards the hangar.  
Bracken then turned back to his books and papers. It was time to make the foundations of his new empire. He turned and watched as the Black Army descended onto the planet. The sight was beautiful to him. For him and his companion, it was time to strike at the Headquarters of the Order of the Sun.

Author and Grace walked out of Practice Room 3 and into the Main Building. The elevator asked in that same flat voice. Where would you like to go? Grace looked at Author, who spoke to the machine, "Habitation Quarters 2 please"  
The elevator turned to the right and shot off.  
Grace turned to look at Author out the corner of her eye. "How does the elevator work"  
"These elevators are magically enhanced. They can access all sections of the Order's building. These elevators don't use electricity in fact, nothing in here runs on electricity. Magical Maintenance takes care of everything," he explained. "Didn't Bolle tell you this"  
"No. He said we couldn't talk about it. But anyway, who is Magical Maintenance?" Grace asked.  
"Like the names says. They maintain the Headquarters and help defend it when they need to," Author said.  
Grace looked at the numbers scrolling past. "So how does this work"  
"It doesn't." Grace looked curiously at him. "Then how does it work"  
"Give it a place to go, and it takes you there." Grace looked back at the numbers scrolling past again.  
"So I can tell it to go anywhere I need to go"  
"As long as it's in the building, then yes"  
Grace leant back, unsatisfied. "Then what about the building?" She asked.  
Author smiled. "We are actually in a live creature, which has allied itself with us, and allows us to live in it as long as we take care of it. It asked us to cast a concealment jinx over it, so it wouldn't be seen. When the building shakes, it is stretching." Grace stared at horror outside of the elevator - which was now red instead of black. "We're inside a what"  
Author followed her gaze. "We are inside an Underminer. We call it Building because that is what it is to us, and it is happy to let us call it that"  
Grace then asked, "What is its real name"  
Author thought for a minute. "I think it's something along the lines of Dontenin Macugeeb." He then frowned a bit. "That doesn't sound right. It might be Dotnennin Mageecub," Grace just shook her head. Author then went on. "It has enough room to accommodate the entire Order. In return, we protect it and maintain its insides from decay and so forth. It is an exchange of mutual benefit. The door is the only way in or out of the Underminer." Grace leant forward and looked more carefully at the walls, which were slowly turning green, and from there, she could make out small people dressed in black scrambling about. "So, who are they?" She asked.  
Author looked at the people working. "The people in black are Magical Maintenance. They help maintain the inside of the Underminer. It looks like it ate something that didn't agree with it"  
Grace looked outside, unsettled by that thought. "What did it eat"  
Author looked at the metal scraps being hauled out. "By the look of it, an aeroplane." Grace gasped out loud. "So how do you guys cover it up?" She asked.  
Author then turned to look at Grace. "We don't. The normal people think that it's just a plane gone missing and go off to look for it several hundred kilometres away. We do nothing. It's all them thinking wrongly." Grace then turned to watch the people scramble around. Something fell and people were suddenly calling to each other in some weird language that sounded like a mix of English and some other language. Author then explained. "That is the Common Language. You're going to have to learn it sometime. It's half English and half Quartic." "Quartic"  
"The second most common species in the Universe. Them and Humans are the two most common species across the entire Universe." "How many species are there"  
Author then leant back and thought for a bit. "Probably over several hundred thousand. No one has ever gotten an exact number." Grace sat down on the elevator floor. "Wonder how many there really are." She thought aloud. Author didn't have an answer. They just watched in silence as the insides of the Underminer flew past.

_"Go! Go!" Someone was shouting at someone else, not her it seemed. It was a war and this was a battle of power Grace hadn't seen before.  
"Die!" Something was destroyed in a flurry of fire.  
People were shouting. "Over there"  
Grace heard someone sound like her shout to the others around her. Everyone else was either trying to kill her, or defending her┘ Something was out of place┘ "Over there!" "What's that"  
Someone screamed incoherently, and then blew apart.  
"There she is"  
Something was destroyed in a massive lightning storm. The residual energy flowing over into her, and it was released as pure untempered power.  
"Get her"  
"NO!!" A roar of fury erupted from her, and everyone around her burnt.  
_Something flew out of Grace and rebounded through the room. It flew into the door and disappeared and left behind a smell of burning wood.  
Grace woke up, and found the lamps and closet in the room completely demolished. She looked around again and found Author standing in the doorway, "what happened here?" She asked.  
Author sat down on the bed. "Nightmare. Happens sometimes," He continued thoughtfully. "But something like this isn't normal in a nightmare. No one reacts so forcefully in a nightmare. At most, the pillow gets a little rip in it. Maybe you can walk through dreams. I'll talk to Licaia about it." He then stood up and walked around the room, inspecting the damage, from taking a quick look at the closet doors to the scorch marks on the bed.  
Grace sat up on her bed. "Who's she?" Author sat down next to her after he finished his quick inspection.  
"Licaia is someone on the Council. I think Josh pointed at her during his welcome speech." He said.  
"He gives that to everyone?" Grace asked.  
"No. Just to 'special cases'." He snorted.  
She looked at Author. "Like mine"  
"Yes. Exactly like yours"  
"Great." Grace looked at Author, who also looked a little sick. "Are they the best"  
"They are the most powerful of the entire Order. Everyone is careful fighting them because they are the best"  
"Okay, so I am going to talk to one of the most powerful people alive"  
"Licaia is a calm, gentle person, as she cares for anything and everything. That's why she's on the Council, because she is so calm about everything. She'll talk to you about this problem and you won't feel uncomfortable about it"  
Grace looked at him. "I hope you're right." Author assured her he was and left her alone. Grace looked at the door in which he passed through, and she fell back into bed. Then sleep claimed her again.

In the morning, Grace found herself in the Council Chamber. It was a large room with a curved roof. It was pretty much empty except for three people, one of whom was exiting the room, which left Grace and Licaia. Licaia was a sort of short person, who had black hair that fell to her shoulders, and had small hands and feet. She seemed to project an aura of peace and contentment, which made Grace feel calmer. "Hello Grace. I think Author told you that I am Licaia Woram. That guy walking through the door there is my twin brother √ and a very annoying guy sometimes - John Woram." She pointed at her twin, a man, same height as Licaia, short brown hair, but unlike Licaia, had larger hands and feet. "I'm not as annoying as you sis. At least I have a normal name unlike you." He teased. Licaia then muttered under her breath, "boys." John ignored the aside.  
"Well, I'm going for brekkie. See you later then Licaia"  
John waved bye to Licaia and left the room, closing the door quietly behind him. Licaia then sighed and turned to look at Grace. "My brother is more than annoying. He is insanely stupid sometimes. Even more so than JP, and he is annoying"  
"Who's JP?" Grace asked.  
"Someone you wouldn't know." Licaia shuddered. Then added, "don't let it worry you"  
Grace looked back at Licaia. "Guess I don't need to tell you who I am, I suppose"  
Licaia looked up at the ceiling of the Council Chamber. "No. Now, Author says you might be able to walk through dreams, but I don't know for sure. There is a simple way of trying it." And you may be the key to stopping the War. Licaia thought.  
"Well, how do I try it"  
Licaia turned her attention back to Grace. "Using a little coin. This brings the Plane to you, and if you have the ability, you will be drawn into the Plane until you wish to leave"  
"So, anyone can try?" Grace asked.  
Licaia looked back at the ceiling again. "Yes, but most fail. Can you actually walk through the Plane? Because if you can, it makes my job a bit easier." She leant back into her chair more as if enjoying watching the ceiling.  
"Well, I don't know. Can I?" Grace tried to follow her gaze, but ended up giving her neck a cramp. Meanwhile, Licaia continued on as if nothing had happened.  
"You might." She said dreamily, "for if you can, then you can enter the Dream plane. There are dangers and benefits from accessing this plane, some you can use to defend yourself and your allies and others you use to defeat your enemies. If you want, I can show you how to control your other powers while walking through the plane"  
Grace nodded. "I'd like that"  
Licaia smiled at her, "then we'll start. Try this to begin with." Grace took a small coin Licaia offered her. Grace looked at it.  
"Now what?" Grace looked at Licaia.  
"Wait for the Plane to come to you."

Grace waited for another ten minutes. Then, without warning, she found herself on a darker version of the room she was in. "So this is the Dream Plane"  
Licaia nodded. "This is one form. I can never tell how many different ones there are. I followed where you came to, and you came to this darker version. Be careful; do not concentrate on anything besides what is in your memory. If you don't, the dream can become reality, and it takes a life of its own in the real world"  
Then Licaia started talking to Grace about the dream plane. "This place is new to me. It seems to be a bit dangerous if you were to go outside." She indicated the window, which showed blue bubbles floating past the window, which burst open and sprayed a blue gel across the window. Grace gave an involuntary jump back and hit the wall. Licaia just smiled. "Don't let it bother you too much." She set off again and they walked through the Plane, while Licaia talked about the Plane and its different aspects. In this place, it was easier to see where there were secret passageways. Licaia shook her head. "This place is not an exact replica of the real world. Only here are there secret passageways. In fact, it looks a bit like a smuggler base." Grace could only stare in astonishment.

At the end of about four hours of study with Licaia, Grace sought Author. She found his room eventually, bent over a small desk.  
"What are you doing?" She asked.  
Author looked up from his work. "I'm writing a book." Grace found herself sitting down next to him. "What about"  
Author smiled. "Not now. I'll tell you later." Grace pouted. Author only laughed out loud. "Patience. I will show you later." Grace tried for a sad puppy look, but Author just started laughing even harder. "Are you trying out for a miming show? Because I think I've just found the perfect candidate!" He said, still laughing hard. Grace immediately stopped. Author finally calmed down, and looked at Grace. She just got up and started pacing. Author watched her progress. "Now, what can I do for you?" He asked.

Up above the surface of the planet, Bracken's private plane passed over Australia. The transports had landed his army, and they were ready to march at a moment's notice.  
"My Lord Bracken, Agent 20A is in position"  
Bracken looked up from his work. "When can we initiate the attack"  
"At 9:00 am exactly, sir"  
"Prepare to deploy all Hunters and Witches. This Grace Willows will be necessary to gain access to the Artefact. Then we will sweep the Order away without any further ado"  
"I'll order the teams to go to standby mode then"  
"Yes. Kill any of the Order inside that building. Then raze the city to the ground"  
His servant bowed. "It's on my to-do list sir. I will tell them this after I finish maintenance on the washing machine. It's been on the blink lately, and needs fixing"  
Bracken looked at his servant intensely. "Why? With the might of the Black Army and the Super Nova Army and Secret Project 32, do we not have a decent washing machine"  
"Apparently not sir. I'll get to work on it right away." The servant turned around and walked out of his office.  
Bracken turned back to his work. There was much to be done.

Grace was talking to Bolle, because Bolle was explaining something to her.  
"The ability to walk in the dreamscape is a rare talent. Only a few have it. Licaia is one. You seem to be another." Some people walking past looked curiously at them. "In the two thousand years of this order, only five people in each decade have this ability. They are all incredibly powerful people and most are corrupted with power and join the Black Army. Only a few have ever remained pure and have this ability at the same time, Licaia being one of few to ever do so, and so is famous within the Order for being so"  
Grace looked a bit less comfortable with her newfound ability. "So, I must tread carefully"  
"Yes. Having access to the dreamscape opens up many more abilities, that others would kill to have"  
They both stopped, and Grace asked, "like what"  
"Well, the most extreme and dangerous ability is the ability to change time and space. Remould the universe in your image. It was this power that corrupts most dream walkers. They never succeeded because the Order killed those who tried such an abomination"  
Bolle turned to look at Grace, who said, "I'll be careful then"  
"I know you will be, but I also know much that remains unseen, both visibly and invisibly." Bolle looked away and started walking away, Grace following him, wondering what he had just said.

A human was storming through a small prison block. Literally storming. That person was creating immense amounts of power and blowing the place open. The doors on each cell sprung open. The being looked at an image of Bracken working on his 'schemes' to take the world. It was satisfied that he was busy and wouldn't object to its taking extra staff on board. The prisoners all ran for the ship waiting to take them away. Bracken's companion followed in their wake, and looked at the block, which was now just a pile of rubble, bodies of people of the Order strewn everywhere. It nodded briefly and turned to take the transport away.

Author looked at a report that he was supposed to tell the Council about. Roger had to be next to him when he was halfway through.  
"What's that about Author?" He asked. Author looked at Roger, surveying his face. "Break. Someone managed to get into Block C and spring all the Black Army prisoners there. Whoever did, killed everyone in the Block. We only found out because the supply convoy found the remains of the Block and reported it in." Roger looked scared.  
"So now what?" He whispered. Author turned back to the paper.  
"We wait." Roger gave Author a friendly slap on the back and walked away. Author shook his head at Roger's retreating back. One day, that carefree attitude is going to get you killed Roger. Author thought as Roger turned a corner and disappeared from sight. Author then turned around and went about his own business.

THE FOLLOWING IS AN EXTRACT FROM THE ORDER OF THE SUN'S COUNCIL CHAMBER AT 6:12 am, AUSTRALIA, ON THE 5TH OF APRIL 2006.

Licaia Woram: "Grace Willows can walk through the dream plane. We must watch her carefully. She might corrupt herself with this power. Author shouldn't have been so hasty in telling her about this."

Bart Ottoman: "Licaia, she would've ended up killing everyone around her if she didn't know. Also, I know that you are eager to find another who can walk in the plane, but is known that people can see into the dream plane, but not walk in it, or create out of that place."

Licaia Woram: "You know that that isn't possible."

John Woram: "Not impossible, just highly unlikely, as I can."

Licaia Woram: "You can spy on me in the plane?"

John Woram: "Exactly what I can do. So, it isn't impossible. She hasn't succeeded because she can only see into the plane, but not create or destroy from it."

Licaia Woram: "She still walked through it! I saw her, and John, you must've saw her too. It is proof that she has this ability!"

The Gaoler: "Erm, guys, the main issue at hand is whether we tell Grace about that incident, when she was six months old."

Josh Rocker: "No. She will find out in her own way."

Roy Wilson: "I agree. I, like Carol, believe that she must discover things for herself. I recommend that we tell Bolle and Author as well."

Carol Blanshet: "I don't."

Scooty Teo-Lector: "Everyone else does Carol. Sorry, but as with anything, majority passes. Grace will not be told until she finds out herself."

Ben Jinx: "What happens if Grace doesn't find out? Then she will never know."

Catherine Summers: "Then that is the future we must accept."

AUTHOR CHARLES ENTERS THE ROOM. STANDS AT AN ANGLE OF 180OT RELATIVE TO JOSH ROCKER.

Josh Rocker: "Why did you tell her about what is happening?"

Author Charles: "I thought it was necessary. She would've killed everyone around her if she doesn't learn to control herself."

SOUND ENERGY CONFIRMS SOMEONE PACING IN CIRCLES AROUND THE ROOM AT A PACE OF 0.93 METERS PER SECOND. ANGLE TO THE CENTER IS 90O. INCREASED ADRENALINE ANALYSIS SUGGESTS INCREASED ACTIVITY OF THE MIND AND EXCITEMENT GROWING WITHIN PARTICIPANTS.

Roy Wilson: "Gregory had a vision of her standing over Bracken's corpse. Author was right to tell her of this hidden world."

Josh Rocker: "She will not be told of what her father did to her."

Author Charles: "I agree with that, however much I disapprove."

Josh Rocker: "It is decided. Solved. If there is nothing else, then Author, you may leave."

AUTHOR CHARLES EXITS THE ROOM. ADRENALINE LEVELS DECREASE AND SUGAR LEVELS INCREASE √ AS MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL CONSUME SOFT DRINKS. 2.31 LITRES OF SOFT DRINK WAS CONSUMED.

John Marshal: "Does he know what she will do after he goes?"

Perry Zinger: "I do not think so, or he would not defend her so."

Jeff Coustins: "No. Author loves her, like I do."

END TRANSCRIPT. TIME OF THE END OF TRANSCRIPT: 7:02 AM.  
Grace was learning at a rapid pace in Practice Room 3. It had been two months and she was already one of the most powerful people she knew, but as Bolle kept saying, her control was not perfect. It just burst out sometimes at random places when she was using it. Just a few days ago, Bolle had to raise a shield to protect himself because she exploded. Literally exploded. She had nearly destroyed the control board, which by the look of it, was very expensive to build.  
She finished the main part of the Beginning Course, and was near the exit. Someone coughed behind her. She then stopped and turned around. Author was standing there. "Good job Grace. Now, practice against someone more powerful than you are at the moment. Get ready, and good luck." He bowed to her, and straightened.  
Then he threw a lightning bolt at her, which she blocked, and redirected it into Author. He took it lightly and laughed at it. What? He looked at her. "Be careful Grace. One of my favourite abilities is to be able to grow more powerful from lightning." He then threw more lightning at her. She stepped aside, and let it flow past her. Then she started to throw fire at him. He caught all of them and expanded the fire into a large ball of flame. He then blew through it, and the fire expanded outwards in a large explosion. Grace managed to stop it, and freeze the fire in place. She shattered it with a light kick to one side of it, which then fell to the floor, and melted. Author dropped, with sparks flying around. He must have been powering up for a lightning strike, and electrocuted himself.  
Grace looked at his prone form. She had won. She turned around and walked through the exit.

Grace walked out feeling happy. She had finished the course, and defeated Author, although she thought he wasn't really fighting.  
Before she could feel anything more, Bolle came up to her, and criticized her performance. Grace nodded through it all, paying attention to very little of what he was saying. Then her mind fell on someone familiar.  
"Oh God. I forgot! Jeff will be wondering where I am"  
Bolle looked at Author, who was limping outside to clean the room. "Then go." Bolle said. "I will watch you carefully." They turned around and left the room, while Author cleaned the place up. Grace looked at Bolle.  
"How are we going to get there now?" Bolle just increased his pace.  
"Same as always." He replied. "We teleport." They took the elevator outside of the building. He then offered his arm to Grace.  
"Hold on." Then he teleported away, pulling Grace with him. They whirled away in a beam of multi-coloured light.

Morse Bracken watched Grace run towards her house.  
"Begin the attack now. While she is away"  
Acknowledgements came back.  
"Let us take her into our forces, and wait. It cannot be... No. It's not. She wouldn't be doing this. The Dark Lady would just teleport there. The Dark Lady died four years ago"  
Bracken turned back to watch his forces destroy the Order's main building.  
He turned to another monitor and saw Grace's house completely destroyed. No one had bothered to remove the wreckage. The Hunter who had destroyed the house was still hovering over the ruins, checking for any survivors, but no one could have survived such an attack, especially since it was Kursefyre. It was the most destructive force ever √ and it was his invention. He then turned his attention to something new. His companion had returned with hundreds of prisoners. Bracken smiled. His companion was worth its keep. It had liberated many of the Dark Lady's lieutenants and allies. They would serve to increase the numbers the Black Army would have. He smiled as he worked. For the first time in twenty years, he started humming quietly to himself. It was a new happy medium for him.

Grace found her house destroyed. Then she remembered her house being destroyed by a few - few being relative - Hunters. There was one still floating over the remains. The ruins were black and still smoking. There was still fire pulsing around. Memories rushed and threatened to overwhelm her. Bolle was shouting at her. His voice cut through the pain. "Grace! That is cursed fire! It can't be put out, until there is nothing left to feed on. We need to go, because there may be more Hunters around other than the one floating there. Grab hold of me and we'll run! We need to go. NOW!" Grace killed the floating Hunter, grabbed hold of Bolle and they disappeared in a flash of colour.  
At that moment, three Hunters strode out of the shadows and looked around. They surveyed the remains of the Hunter who Grace had killed, and walked away. They walked to the end of the street, and teleported away.

Bracken watched as a someone who claimed to be psychic looked into the future for him. Future telling wasn't his strong point. The psychic then started chuckling to herself. Bracken merely leant forward and hit her. It was the first time he had struck a happy medium. The Psychic however, looked up. She then told him good news, and Bracken found himself laughing out loud. It was a great day for him, he had struck a happy medium and he knew that what would happen would be good - for him. He walked out and teleported out to his waiting army.

The attack came with sudden ferocity. The Order's Headquarters shook violently. For a brief moment, it looked like it would topple over, but at the last minute, it grew legs and arms made of bricks to stabilize itself. The building then shrunk its new limbs and returned to being just a building. Bracken watched it all with amazement. Those guys aren't idiots. Everyone felt that. He looked around carefully and saw people running out. Then the battle started. Here was where he excelled.

Josh fell out of bed when the building shook for the first time. It's probably just Building stretching itself. He thought. He found Caroline and together, they walked into the Council Chamber, but there was a feeling of unease between them. And it wasn't their relationship that made them uneasy.

Morse Bracken strode across the boulevard until he saw the Headquarters for the Order of the Sun. He gestured and the attack started. Or at least he thought he did, until the Hunters stopped.  
He looked for the Hunter Commander. "Hunter Leader 1, Report. What is happening"  
One Hunter, distinguishable from the rest turned and saluted him. "They have blocked our sight sir. We cannot kill with sight anymore"  
Bracken nodded. "Then just kill everything by hand"  
"Yes my liege. Thank you." The Hunter turned around and gestured. A few hunters encountered a trap. Over three hundred were hit. The first wave √ one hundred Hunters √ was killed. The rest were too injured to continue to fight. The three Hunters who had been hiding in the shadows near Grace's demolished house appeared close by. The leader of the three saluted Bracken.  
"Sir, she did as you predicted. She managed to escape by means of teleportation with Bolle Wakuri"  
Morse Bracken looked at the Hunter who had brought him bad news, and thrust his power into the Hunter. The Hunter collapsed instantly. He turned to the other two. "As for you two, go and destroy any enemy you see. Redeem yourselves"  
"Yes sir," they responded in unison.  
Bracken then watched the destruction of the Order of the Sun.

The Council Chamber rocked as the traps went off. Hundreds of Pulse Bombs hit the Black Army advancing on the ground. Within minutes, three hundred Hunters were dead.  
Josh nearly fell out of his seat as the blast rocked the building. "That was not a┘"  
John stood up. "We are being attacked! We need to go"  
Then he and Licaia met at the door, and the twins left the room.  
Josh sighed as the twins retreated from the room. "Brash as always"  
The Gaoler looked at him. "They are the most powerful pair ever. They can hold them back while everyone else escapes. Then they can follow"  
Caroline looked at The Gaoler. "They're to be fodder for the Black Army"  
"Essentially, yes. But we will aid them in any way we can. Everyone else goes"  
Josh shook his head. "To leave them to hold off the Black Army is stupid. We need to help. Try to summon some of our allies in the fight. We have to try to hold this place. I think there's one Sphinx in the place somewhere - no doubt she's getting ready for a fight." One of the Masters teleported out. Josh sighed. "That guy just refuses to be caught with us." The remaining people in the Council Chamber stared at the place where Jeff had teleported away. Josh looked at Scooty. "Call the Seraphs. Maybe they can help." Scooty nodded and turned to the sky. Josh looked at the others. "Let us join the fight"  
For once, no one argued.

Grace found herself in the middle of a large fight. She spotted Licaia and John standing next to the building that housed the Order. Then she turned around and started fighting. Two Hunters challenged her. But they didn't get too far. They had been killed by someone's firebomb. Grace looked around, and saw no one. She turned to face a few more Hunters, and was in the middle of the fighting. A few minutes later, she got hit on the back of her head √ a Hunter had hit her swing back to throw a bomb at someone else - and blacked out. While she did, the bomb went off. A group of people screamed loudly and then flew up into the air.

With the Order fighting the Black Army, Bracken was free to roam around and find his target. He found her eventually and it was good fortune that she was unconscious. He ran forwards to get her and be gone before anyone would realise he was there. He killed a member of the Order on his way there. The male he killed died before he knew what hit him.

The battle moved out onto the street. Members of the Order were trying to hold back the Black Army, while the younger members and the teachers were escaping to the Outpost. The Seraphs were flying overhead killing Hunters and Demons who were close enough. The Sphinx was angry, and was tearing through the Headhunters with a great degree of success with the Hunters trying to blast it from behind and hitting their own forces instead as the Sphinx tore its way through the Black Army. Demons took to flight and Seraphs flew to meet them overhead and the two species were engaged quickly. Hunters and members of the Order were doing their best to kill each other. After about thirty minutes of fighting, the street was completely destroyed, nothing remained except for the Order's base - the Underminer - and the outlines of the roads. Bracken was nowhere to be found at all yet as he was still trying to locate his 'target'. In it all, a Deava and a Dragon were flying and slashing at everyone, and when they met on the field, a massive fight occurred, with fire and claws slashing through empty air as the two creatures tried to kill each other and the enemy.

Ben Jinx watched from a nearby rooftop as John and Licaia worked together with predatory instincts. He muttered a few words, and copies of John and Licaia appeared everywhere, causing confusion with the Black Army, while the real John and Licaia slowly progressed forwards to help Author and Grace. He looked up as the Dragon passed overhead. He dropped to the roof with a curse. Inspired, he conjured up images of Dragons, which started flying around and confusing the Deava, who started slashing the fakes and Ben let them fade. Laughing out loud, he turned to a Hunter who had found him. Three copies of him surrounded the Hunter, and the Hunter died. Three wounds from three sides marked his passing. Ben turned around to watch the battle again. Three Black Assassins sent word back to their master, and they were joined by two more Black Assassins. With one dangerous intent, they slowly advanced towards Ben Jinx, who was standing oblivious to the fact that he was about to die.

Josh and Carol loved each other very much. But when it came to fighting, they were unstoppable when they worked separately, or they would get in each other's way. Josh went left and Carol turned around and ran back. Josh faced twelve angry Hunters. Josh was one of the best because he can kill in a small radius around him. His favourite ability was what he termed, a 'sonic boom,' which literally cut enemies into pieces. He never used it much, but now was a good time to do so. He released energy, and a large shockwave emerged from him. Twelve Hunters, now hundreds of small pieces dropped to the ground around him, and the Deava screamed in anger. Josh smiled, and turned to face the next group of enemies. He had to drop to avoid a Demon's death dive. He fought the Hunters and then released another shockwave. Ten more Headhunters dropped dead. He spun around to get ready to call for a retreat.

Carol was running back down the street to slow another group of Headhunters. These guys were evil. They killed with a special blade, they called a Silencer. These killed anyone in one cut, and then they took the heads of the defeated as trophies, hence the name Headhunters. She, like Josh, could kill in a small radius. But she didn't use ultra-sonic energy. She created energy to destroy the closest enemies. She concentrated a bit harder, and five Headhunters blew apart. She smiled as she looked at the other Headhunters. A Seraph and a Demon were trying to avoid the Dragon and the Deava who were slashing each at each other with limited success. She turned around to the Demon, which blew apart instantly. The Seraph waved her thanks and rejoined the fight in the sky.

Author found the fight at its peak. The Seraphs and Demons were flying overhead killing everyone below and above them. The Deava and Dragon flew everywhere, slaughtering enemies and attempting to do the same to each other. Creatures from the ground were attacking the Black Army. Author sighed. Only Scooty could coax these creatures out of the ground. These creatures fell onto the Black Army without warning, and Hunters and Witches all fell screaming.

John Marshal was a sword master. He was really good at what he did, and it was widely known that it would take more than five battalions of Headhunters to kill them. He nearly did get killed when about eight battalions of Headhunters attacked him. He managed to escape though. John loved his katana blade. It was good for killing Headhunters, as if they were to be killed by any non-magical weapon, they had to be decapitated. Not pretty either though. John could generate extra heat to soften the Headhunter's silencer blade, and slice through and kill the Headhunter. Perry was able to use any weapon he desired. He spent over three weeks in a forgery creating his weapon, a gun really. But it could kill just with a slight touch, so Perry had to be careful. But he continued to kill Headhunters and Hunters alike. Marshal fought against the Headhunters, having to leap back to avoid the Dragon's fire. It passed overhead, throwing bodies of Hunters and Headhunters alike into the air. The Witches held some weird shield over themselves, protecting themselves. Marshal shook his head, and leapt over to them and took the fight to the Witches.

Roy watched as three Witches cackled overhead. Then they fell to the ground. Roy turned on one, who instantly teleported onto a rooftop close by, where Ben was. Ben killed the Witch, and she didn't see what killed her. One down, two to go. He saw another Witch fly overhead. He let her go, instead focusing on the one in front of him. She shouted something incomprehensible, and the ground shook. He calmed the ground with a thought, and then he sent the tremors that were still to come back at the Witch, who dropped dead. The last Witch was still flying, so Roy simply had to reach up and pull her down. She fell to the ground and didn't move. Roy smiled with satisfaction. Then turned to leave.

The Deava flew overhead shrieking loudly at its enemies. It left a long trail of enemies behind while it flew through the fight. It took a hit from a random lightning bolt that came down to hit a group of Headhunters, whose bodies were thrown through the air and hit the ground, killing them. It was flying over, when a sonic boom from Josh hit it. It fell to the ground, where it burst into smoke, which quickly dispersed into air. The Demons nearby all screamed in anger √ and the Order's people on the ground below a Demon found themselves in the air falling rapidly down to the ground again.

Although Catherine was best attacking others, she could translate her attack to attacking enemies. This was basically the same thing for her. She carved her way with a psychokinetic knife through a group of Super Nova forces who were working with the Black Army. She really didn't care that they were there, only they were in the way of her reaching Bracken. She wanted the satisfaction of avoiding prophecy. That was her motive. Then she saw Black Assassins stealthily moving towards Ben. She teleported to the rooftop and prepared for battle. She had to stop to change her weapon to a long energy filled blade, which shone a bright violet in the dim light.

There were five assassins. Now two were killed by Catherine on her initial attack. The other assassins reacted immediately. Two others advanced on Catherine. The third one reached Ben, and killed him swiftly. Catherine screamed in fury. The remaining three died as she pointed at them, conjuring a small psychic dagger in their heads. They fell forwards and didn't utter a sound. Catherine turned away happy and jumped down to continue the fight. She watched as the Sphinx and the Dragon both jumped a large Balloon that spun in the air dropping lightning into the middle of the Order's ranks. The Balloon fell and exploded on the ground, making everyone on the ground jump away or teleport away to another roof nearby. Some didn't make it. People on both sides were thrown into the air and fell, most didn't get up. The few that did were killed almost immediately.

Bracken watched the Balloon be destroyed. He just gestured at his servant, who spoke quietly into his communicator. A few minutes later, airships appeared and started bombing the street. The Building woke up and started swatting the airships out of the sky. The airships tried to destroy it, but were shot out of the air , either by a lightning bolt that accidentally hit them, or by a firewall that was conjured to slow them. Building also picked the airships up and threw them down into the Black Army's ranks - making a large mushroom-shaped fireball rise, burning hundreds to death. But still, the airships flew.

Josh watched as Building threw/swatted/punched the airships. He then had to turn his attention to Kaos Muloks. He was a large man who could destroy pretty much anything if he wanted to. And he could certainly kill Josh if he was hit. Kaos ran at him. Josh sighed, and teleported behind him, and fired off a fireball, which Kaos blocked with some weird shield. Kaos's face broke into a grin, as Josh continually fired at the shield, not breaking it. Josh then gathered energy into his hand, and threw it at Kaos. His opponent's face changed. He threw the shield at the force Josh released. The Shield broke and Kaos teleported to face Josh, who instantly let loose a Sonic boom, which hit Kaos. Kaos fell dead within minutes of the Sonic boom. Josh didn't feel like celebrating. There was nothing else to do except to defend Building and hope it was alright.

Basically, Scooty was a bit of a nature freak. She could communicate with animals of any kind, so she had birds of prey swooping down on the Black Army, and the reserve forces of the Black Army were being devoured by the Gerrads, small worm type creatures that were carnivorous. The victims all fell screaming in pain as they ate their prey. She spotted a Hunter and killed him by conjuring vines that slowly choked him to death. A Witch started to throw fireballs at her. She had to teleport away behind the Witch and summon a Gerrad to kill the Witch, who fell screaming. Scooty looked at the oncoming horde, some were falling down screaming, but it wasn't enough for her. But she couldn't do too much more.

Author strode out angry. Killing three Hunters, he saw Grace's limp form being picked up by Morse Bracken. This wouldn't do! He raced forward to challenge Bracken.  
"Oi! Bracken! Pick on someone your own size! Let's see how well you fight someone who can retaliate"  
Bracken looked around. Grace dropped to the ground. Bracken looked at Author. "A gentleman as always, not that that will help you this time," Bracken sneered. Then he threw an ice barrier at him, which hit Author. He dropped unconscious on the ground.

Licaia and John Woram were unstoppable together. John brought a small wind around.  
"C'mon Lici. We need to get this going faster." Licaia started feeding power into the wind. It slowly blew into a tornado. The tornado rose high into the sky, and almost immediately, Bracken's airships were thrown from the sky - both by Building and by the Tornado. The Tornado ran right through the middle towards Bracken.

Bracken looked contemptuously at the Tornado. It wasn't very dangerous - save for the fact that it had caused a wealth of damage to his forces. He growled in anger, and calmed the Tornado. It blew out, but there were no airships left in the sky. Bracken then teleported into the battle, with the remaining Black Army forces running to fight as well.

Author woke up, and saw Bracken making off with Grace. "Still trying to escape like a coward Bracken"  
Bracken hissed at him. He dropped Grace, who moaned quietly. Author watched carefully as Bracken took a few steps back, and then jumped high, out of his vision. He waited, and then the bombardment began.

John watched as Bracken flew up high preparing to bombard Author. "We gotta stop him," he told his twin. They build up more energy and another Tornado blew up. The Black Army fled for cover, they had terrifying experiences of a Tornado, only thirty minutes beforehand. The tornado flew towards Bracken, who fired several more fireballs down at Author, who caught the fire, then blew it upwards in a massive cloud of fire. Bracken dropped quickly and started throwing ice barriers at Author, who promptly melted them and turned the water into steam, which enveloped Bracken, who emerged from the steam hot and angry. The heat began to leave Bracken as he turned his body heat into plasma, which flowed towards Author, who would have been roasted alive, had he not teleported away behind Bracken. John swore. He couldn't direct the tornado towards them, without getting Author. "Damn. Better find somewhere else to take this then." Licaia pointed to the street. Hundreds of Hunters and Witches marched towards them, Headhunters and Black Assassins joining them. "Good spotting sis." John said. The tornado blew into the street, throwing bodies in its wake. There was a massive trail of destruction left behind the Tornado.

Author was nearly out. He watched as Bracken prepared for the killing shot. Then a large fireball hit Bracken, who threw the fire towards Author, who teleported out of the path, and emerged behind Bracken, who turned to face him. "Author: Get moving or you'll get caught in it too!" He recognized John calling to him.  
He picked Grace up and ran. He was halfway back before he was hit from behind by Bracken. Then he fell unconscious.

Bracken watched as Author ran to get Grace. He snarled angrily. He threw a ball of fire which hit Author in the back. He blocked the majority of it, but it was enough to knock Author out. Then he had to turn to face someone else. "So you decided to interfere with my fight." Bracken was still angry from the earlier battle. John smiled at him calmly, which enraged Bracken even further.  
"Yeah. Pretty much so." John responded. "Although I thought you were above kidnapping people." Bracken hissed at him, staring John down.  
John looked at Bracken, and a fireball came barrelling towards him. He stepped to the side, changing its form into that of a giant phoenix, which in turn swooped down on Bracken, who froze it and shattered the phoenix. The ice shards started flying towards John, who leapt away. The shards then targeted Licaia, who brought a wall of fire up. The ice melted to water, which was then promptly turned into a stream of water aimed at Bracken, who flew high to avoid it. John flew up to him. That was all Licaia saw before she turned around to see a Hunter advancing towards Grace's limp form. Licaia didn't hesitate. The Hunter died while slowly burning to death.

John watched as Bracken flew up. John followed him. Then, they met in mid-air. John punched him in the face. Bracken fell back, but stayed in the air. He responded by aiming a kick up at John's stomach. It made minimal contact, but it was enough to throw John back. They eyed each other carefully, and Bracken made the first move. He summoned a lightning bolt that flew at the speed of light towards John, who casually redirected it into the Black Army. John then fired off a lightning bolt at Bracken, who turned it into a large Deava made of lightning, which roared at John. John teleported away in a cloud of smoke and emerged behind Bracken, who turned to face him. Bracken flew forwards to attack John, who blocked the blow and dropped and pulled down on Bracken, who howled in anger, and kicked out. John got hit, and started to fall, but caught himself, and fired a long stream of fire at Bracken, who made a sweeping movement. The fire distributed itself over the Order, and everyone there immediately teleported away and emerged closer to the Black Army. John was about to try again, when Author stood up and fired a lightning bolt at Bracken. It hit him in the side, and Bracken fell. He hit the ground, but amazingly, he got up. Recognizing he couldn't win, he teleported away with a flash of colour.

The Gaoler was an alternate identification for his real name, Neb Holowand. He was best as an observer, not a fighter. But when it came to fighting, he can put up a good fight. He turned to Bart, who was also standing there. "How's it going?" Bart looked out the window. "Not very well. The Black Army caught us unprepared. They are bringing in the Werewolves and Demons"  
Neb was surprised. "How can you tell"  
"The black residue that is on the walls are the marks of Demons. I can also see excess Sulphur and Sulphur Dioxide lining the streets"  
Neb looked at the road. Indeed, something that wasn't there before had appeared on the road. Demons were indeed coming. The Werewolves were being killed by Perry. Simple for a guy like Perry to create a gun to kill anything. Neb ran outside and called for a retreat. He had finished when he was frozen solid. It was getting too cold for him. He died of the cold.

Grace woke up to the sound of gunfire - a sign that someone had come and started shooting at them, and she found Author lying next to her. Then the lightning hit close to her. But it didn't fade. It stayed as a wall. A Hunter tried to leap through and was fried. The lightning wall nearly blinded her, but she managed to turn away. It was a few minutes before she was aware that someone was yelling at her. She eventually managed to put Licaia and John into focus, "Grace, get moving now!" John yelled to her.  
John and Licaia were standing there. Then Grace understood what was happening. She started to pick Author up, but realized she couldn't. She had to leave him, but she couldn't. She indicated Author, but John shook his head. Licaia however, ran forwards and somehow picked him up. Then they all ran. No one followed. Josh was ahead of them, teleporting out. Most of the others had teleported out already.  
"We need to get to the Outpost. Everyone has already teleported there. We only stayed to slow the Black Army down. But they weren't the only ones"  
John continued from Licaia. "The Super Nova forces were helping. I wonder what threat Bracken made to get them to join"  
Grace was confused. "So there are alien thingies"  
"Yep." John started panting as he ran for the teleportation point.  
"And I thought Author was lying." She said with a wry smile.  
"There are more worlds than you or we, Licaia or I can imagine. There are things beyond imagination, and a little more. Now grab on. We gotta 'port outta here"  
Something, was that Bracken? - grabbed Grace, and she was pulled back while she watched John and Licaia teleport away. Then she blacked out.

_"My liege, we have captured Grace Willows. She is in the hold now"  
Bracken looked at his butler. "Good. Then I will talk to her now. Take me there"  
"Yes sire"  
The two walked out of Bracken's office.  
The hold held three people. Two were unimportant, but useful fodder for when Grace Willows was his. They would be the first victims of her first murder in cold blood.  
Then he saw her lying there. There was work to do.  
"Greg, if you would be so kind as to leave us"  
"Of course"  
Then Morse Bracken was alone with Grace. "Wake up Grace, and receive my welcome"  
She still stayed unconscious. "DAMN IT ALL!" Then lightning was pounding her unconscious form. He would continue to do so, until she woke up. Then he could determine whether she was The Dark Lady, or not. She stirred slightly.  
"Excellent. Wake up Ms Willows. Meet your new master"  
Grace looked up groggily. "Get bent you old bastard"  
"Is that any way to talk to your master"  
She sat up on the bench, looking around sharply. "It is now"  
"A very sharp tongue. I shall have to relieve you of that"  
Then lightning poured out again. He had the pleasure of hearing Grace scream loudly. But he was angry, because she was not The Dark Lady. The lightning poured out faster and more powerfully. His prisoner convulsed and collapsed. He nodded. He then passed a small fibre of fire and snaked in through her mouth, down her throat, reaching the internal organs and slowly and painfully heating them and melting them into different shapes. The stomach was twisted into a small B shaped object, which wouldn't change back unless he died, and he never would. He was over 420 years old, and still as young as 30 years. Rearranging Grace's insides was to be his amusement for the next hour or so. Grace started screaming in pain. He laughed out loud and continued to feed more energy into the lightning. She writhed and fell off the pallet, continuing to squirm on the floor, as he continued to pour his anger out, while rearranging the shape of her internal organs. She continued screaming as he continued his fun. _

John and Licaia emerged from their teleport at Outpost Beta. "Damn it!" John was furious. He started to smoke at the legs. People around him were starting to look curiously at him, like he was a master magician.  
Licaia was watching him, "calm down John. You're burning your legs." John looked down. "Oh." The smoke stopped instantly and people came closer for a better look. "You do realize that he's got Grace. Do you know what he could do"  
"What?" Licaia looked curiously at him.  
"The worse possible scenario we discussed"  
"No." Licaia's curiosity turned into fear. "Yes." John was not looking happy about anything.  
Licaia looked into the sky. "We gotta go get her back"  
John looked around at the people crowding around. Then whispered to Licaia, "first, we gotta lose these guys. What do you think?" Licaia took a quick glance around.  
"Everyone, there is no magic show today. Sorry, and no. We won't be coming back." Everyone around them departed, looking disappointed. Licaia shook her head. "Too bad we can't oblige them a bit." "Yeah, well, Grace is the main importance on our agenda now. We need to go now"  
Then they teleported out.

Graham Smith was a small time photographer. He too had managed to take an interest in the stranger with the burning pants. He managed to take a picture of him. He got another picture with the pants undamaged after the fire. Normally, you would put it down as an illusion, but not now. Not after he looked back, expecting to see the two strangers, but now there was only empty space that was being filled in by tourists. He shook his head and continued on his way.

Josh sighed and looked at the report. The main summary was the first page. This was going to be a long and arduous task for him. It involved him reading a lot and, unfortunately for him, seeing the names of friends, relatives or both. The report: It was not good for him. It read as follows:  
Order of the Sun casualty report:  
53 allied deaths. The Gaoler a.k.a. Neb Holowand, John Marshal and Ben Jinx are included among the dead.  
1506 enemy deaths. Kaos Muloks was killed by Josh Rocker, Jeffery Coccyx was defeated by a tornado created by the Woram twins and The Hoax Master was killed by The Gaoler before his death.  
The Black Army lost over 420 Hunters, 120 Headhunters and 30 Witches. MIA: Grace Willows, presumably taken by Bracken.

Result of battle: Victory for the Black Army.  
-Loss of Homebase 12 -Death of three Masters of the Order

Extra notes:  
-Super Nova Forces were involved in the assault. Action is being taken. -The prophecy is coming to pass.  
-Author Charles and Bolle Wakuri are to investigate and destroy all hostile elements within their forces and take all sympathetic forces to Outpost Beta.

Josh broke down. One of his best friends was dead. John Marshal was dead. He wouldn't be able to see him and is mastery of a Katana blade. He would never hear him speak or laugh again. Josh looked at anyone else who died. No doubt others were feeling the same. In total, three Masters had died. His best friend and two more people he was good friends with. He would have gone back to bed and slept forever, but it was Carol who stopped him. "Josh, there's nothing we can do. What's been has been done and we cannot change that." She said softly. Josh swallowed.  
"But I don't know if I can go on, knowing three friends are dead." Carol's features hardened. "Then we go find the people who killed them, and crush the killer." Josh nodded, his resolve hardened. Once he was in control again, he walked out of his room with Carol towards the Council Chamber. "Carol?" He said tentatively.  
"Yes?"  
"I love you"  
"I know. I feel the same Josh." Carol said. No more words were needed.

Author looked at Bolle, who was pacing around the room. "He's got Grace and the Homebase." Bolle stopped pacing the room and sat down. "We need to get going soon, or we'll miss the chance to head into Super Nova territory. It's rare for the Order to be able to go there. Author nodded.  
"For that reason, the Masters have assigned a few others to come with us. We're to meet them here first." Bolle nodded. "As long as we can go soon, then I'm happy"  
"Me too." Author watched as Bolle resumed his pacing.

Grace looked up at Morse Bracken some time later, and saw him properly for the first time. He was a short man, with blonde hair. Odd thing for some random villain going for world domination. She took a deep breath. When she exhaled, fire was expelled.  
"What?" Bracken smiled at her.  
"Side-effect of my... er... how to put this... um... erm... ah! My rearrangements Ms Willows." He strode to the door and leant on it casually, watching Grace as she tried to sit up.  
"That's right. I remember now... Do you have some aspirin? I feel like I was struck by 1000 megavolts... oh that's right. The bastard standing in front of me used torture to say something." Grace groaned and fell down again. Bracken laughed out loud.  
"Correct, and you are finally fully awake Ms Willows. Look at the time. It is near midday. You kept me waiting again. Wait a minute... did you call me a bastard?" Bracken stared at her maniacally. Grace only smiled and nodded at him.  
"Yep. And I'll say it again..." She grinned at him. "Bastard." She finally succeeded in pulling herself up onto the pallet. She smiled triumphantly as if she had just saved the world, but he wouldn't let her. She would destroy it for him if he could get her to listen... "Shut up now, and listen to what I have to say"  
"Sorry to disappoint, but whatever it is you want, I ain't taking." Grace poked her tongue out at him.  
"I don't need you to talk. Join me, and receive power beyond imagination." Bracken indicated the plane around them as if that was some symbol of divine power.  
"I somehow don't believe you"  
"You will soon." Bracken smiled at her.  
He struck at her with lightning. Grace heard herself scream, and hit the pallet hard. Through it all, she felt a small trickle of fire worm down her throat. Something broke inside of her. She felt as if she was free and something had been tying something back.  
Over it all, she heard Bracken screaming "Yell and scream all you want. We are in orbit around the planet! No one will rescue you. You have no hope. Join me and live. Or die"  
She spat at him, breaking the flame. The fire stopped, and the lightning ceased. Bracken was livid. "Now, I shall teach you manners, but you will bow before me eventually"  
Then he left the room. Grace watched as he adjusted something outside. Then it grew freezing inside. Bracken returned. "It will be minus one hundred degrees soon. I hope you enjoy your stay Ms Willows.  
Then it got cold, and lightning started hitting her again. Instead of fire this time, she felt something cold slip down. Her insides started to freeze. And something shook the ship. Someone had just forced entry onto the plane.

John and Licaia were standing in a demolished doorway that led onto Bracken's plane. After a minute of quick searching, they proceeded forward.  
"Two on one. Real brave. So much for you being the best." Bracken stood behind them. Well, tell you what. Why don't I stop, sit down and tell you everything about all my plans for taking the world? Not gonna happen. Bye-bye"  
Then he teleported out of the plane.  
John and Licaia looked at each other. Bloody teleportation ability, John sent to Licaia. Need to take that ability from him sometime. Licaia nodded. Then indicated that they should start looking.  
It took another half an hour to find Grace lying unconscious inside a freezer.  
John looked sympathetically at his twin. "That must feel worse than it looks"  
Licaia ran to the controls to increase the temperature. Inside the room, Grace slowly woke up, and the glass window shattered. It blew open and the twins had to jump back to avoid the glass. Grace walked out as if nothing had happened, but something changed. She walked with her back bent. "Hi guys." She greeted them as if nothing had happened. Licaia looked at Grace carefully, noting the scaring left by Bracken.  
"Grace, you look worse for wear"  
Grace stumbled a bit. "You can't imagine. Where's Bracken?" She looked around pointedly.  
"Bracken jumped out of the plane." John explained to her. "He managed to get away, and taunt us a bit while doing so"  
Grace looked shocked at this. "Won't he die?" She didn't think Bracken deserved to die by falling from a height, no matter how evil he was.  
"No. He teleported out," Licaia said bitterly.  
John took hold of her arm. "You need to go home for a while I think"  
Grace felt she wasn't finished. "First, get me to the surface, where I can see the plane┘" The trio teleported out of the plane.  
They landed on the surface under Bracken's ship. Grace looked around quickly. Satisfied that no one could watch what was happening, she looked up at the plane. Concentrating hard, the plane blew apart in a massive storm of energy. It started raining pieces of ship from the sky. Then John took hold of Grace and they teleported away again.

Bracken teleported to another of his personal ships. He had over two hundred in total around the solar system, or close to it - in orbit above the planet. No doubt that John, Licaia or Grace or all three destroyed his private ship, and killed everyone on board. His new butler came to greet him.  
"Sir, I am Benson, your butler on the Wyvern"  
"Then get me some food. I'm hungry, and I've got work to do"  
"Yes sir. It will come soon"  
"Also, where is my office"  
"Down the corridor on your left, walk twenty meters up the corridor, it's the third door on the left"  
Bracken turned away and walked into his office.  
"Benson, once you get my lunch, I need you to do something for me."

Bolle and Author watched the Hunters carefully, the members of the strike group crouching behind them quietly.  
Author indicated the Hunters to everyone. "This must be why the Super Nova forces were helping. To protect the people in their area. I sort of feel sorry for them, because Catherine literally carved heaps of them up to reach Bracken"  
"No doubt that there is a Hunter training facility near here." Bolle watched as the Hunters met some Headhunters, who all teleported away.  
John nodded. "We gotta blow that up then"  
"Yep. Let's get to locating and destroying it." Bolle started to walk out of their hiding place, but Author pulled him back. Then a Hunter turned around.  
"Bolle," Author said, "let's run for it. Split up. Meet at the Hunter facility ASAP"  
They ran. After about 20 minutes, Author said, "Is that an eligible place for a Hunter training facility"  
Bolle regarded it. Then spotted two Hunters walking out. They were new because they kept looking around, as if they were expecting something to attack them. Experienced Hunters just walked around and ignored everyone, except for the ones they hunted. And left behind a smell of sulphur. Bolle nodded. "Yes. Let's bomb it. Hard"  
"Agreed." Author was now officially happy. He was going to do what he liked best.

Grace looked at her parent's house. It was more beautiful than before. Never though I'd be glad to see the parent's house, she thought. "If you're worried about homecomings, then know that they are hard sometimes. You will get used to it," Licaia continued to walk towards the house.  
"No. Don't." Grace started to get chills from looking at the driveway.  
John turned around, "don't what?" "Go there"  
Licaia looked at John. "Why?" "I have a bad feeling about this. Let's go to where we were supposed to meet everyone else"  
Then the road was destroyed. In the dust, three Hunters strode through, and reached the edge of the dust cloud. That was as far as they got, before John and Licaia simultaneously killed two, and the third teleported away. Grace had to squint to see through the dust, and found three more Hunters waiting for the dust to clear. Grace didn't do them the favour of waiting. Instead, she pointed at one. He fell convulsing. The other two started to walk forwards. They got five steps forward before the second Hunter was killed by a massive static lightning bolt hitting him, directed by Grace. The third Hunter, unwilling to continue, turned to teleport away, but Grace simply muttered something. The Hunter blew into hundreds of pieces.  
Licaia turned to her companions. "We gotta go before more of them come. Grace, hold on"  
"Okay. Off we go then." John teleported them away.

Two more Hunters watched carefully the entire battle carefully, then strode over to where their enemies had disappeared. Then the surviving Hunter teleported to them. They looked at the spot where John, Grace and Licaia had teleported away. Then their gaze shifted from that spot to the house they were intent upon visiting. They met up with a pair of Headhunters, their Silencers sheathed at their waists. With deadly intent, they all slowly strode up to the house.

Strike Group 3 - which was Author and Bolle - met with the others at the factory. It was an abandoned building, grey on the walls and had lots of graffiti all over it. Its roof was nearly falling down, but that didn't mean that it was empty. "We need you to watch our backs inside that place." Author pointed at the core, which was sticking out the top like a huge chimney. They couldn't hit it from where they were without hundreds of Hunters seeing and then converging on them. The others nodded, and muttered a few words. They all disappeared from sight, but Bolle heard them slowly place themselves around the entrance. Then a hand appeared out of nowhere, and waved them on. Author and Bolle turned simultaneously and entered the factory. As Author and Bolle walked into the factory entrance they found nothing. It was completely deserted. The machines around on the walls worked with silent efficiency. It was all grey and sharp, and nothing had a curve to it. Completely mechanic. It was all identical and nothing was out of place. Through it all Bolle and Author walked. "Strange. No one here to say hi." Bolle remarked, voicing their suspicions. "Think we should try the anti-stealth spell"  
"Nah. Better yet, we go to them and say hi then." Author responded.  
"We need to find out where the main power controls are." Author pointed at a computer that was on the wall. It was just hanging there, unused. "Use the computer there." Author looked pointedly at Bolle.  
Bolle grinned. He walked over to the terminal and started tapping the keys. "Okay, cover me. Let's see if I can log in."  
Author watched the three corridors carefully. He saw nothing. "Bolle"  
Bolle kept typing at the computer. "Yes"  
"Something's wrong here"  
Bolle grunted. "You're telling me. I can't log in. That's what's wrong"  
Author shook his head. "No. That's not right..." Then he was flung into the wall, Bolle still hiding away trying to get the computer to work. Author looked around and found a Demon standing in front of him. Luckily, it didn't see Bolle. Author shot lightning at the Demon, who transformed into a cloud of gas, which spun around, and landed behind Bolle again. Author had found enough time to start to mumble a banishing spell. The Demon stopped in its tracks, and blew apart, leaving a small pile of dust behind. Author then turned to watch the corridors again.

Morse Bracken watched carefully as people crawled out of burning houses. The fires were 'accidental', and the parents/caretakers weren't supposed to survive. They were supposed to die, then he would take the kids to join his army. He muttered a few words, and then all the older people, parents and caretakers died. He would normally put those bodies down on the casualty list _as burnt to death_. Surely others would as well, considering he did kill them so well. He did burn them to death and he loved hearing their screams. But now wasn't the time. He ran down and picked up the kids, who were quiet for him, as if sensing he would be the future ruler of the Universe and then he teleported out to his ship in orbit. There would be a time when he would finish with these children, and have a power greater than anyone ever before. Even the Dark Lady. That was the future. Now, he had to retrieve the children for his army. That was as far as he got before he was spotted.  
"OI! You there! Stay where you are!" It was a policeman. Bracken sighed. "Did you hear me? Stay where you are and keep your hands where I can see them!" The guy thought he was in control. I'll show him, Bracken thought. He turned around to face the policeman, who was a young man of about thirty years. Bracken waved at him, and the policeman collapsed, his nasal cavities bleeding and his eyes completely dissolved into liquid. It would be passed off as an aneurism. He was getting good at this. He turned away satisfied that the officer would not do anything except lie there as a trophy to his power.

Outpost Beta was a large rock basically. It was a small portal on the edge of the rock and the rest was underground. It was invisible to everyone, bar the members of the Order. Honestly, it resembled a giant wave, which had frozen in time. According to ancient texts, it was a water wave that ages ago, no idea when, collided with a large mix of different elemental powers came together and froze a wave as it crashed down onto the land. It was here that Grace, Licaia and John teleported, and Carol came out to meet them.  
"What happened? Everyone thought you were dead"  
Licaia turned to face Carol. "No, just chasing Bracken"  
Carol looked at John. "Why?" John walked over to Carol. He then continued from Licaia. "He got Grace for a while. Then we went after him, and got her back"  
Carol looked at Grace sympathetically. "We're going to need to check her to make sure that nothing's wrong with her. Get her inside. It looks like the poor thing's been through alotta crap recently"  
Grace muttered weakly, "you have no idea..." then she followed them. The portal opened up, and everyone stepped through, landing on the other side in a large cavern under the ground. Grace stopped in her tracks and looked around. This was a lot larger than what the rock outside indicated. Licaia whispered to her, "There has been a spell placed upon this place. I believe it's called an Undetected Magical Expansion. It's used for making small places a lot larger like this." Grace could only stare.

Author watched as Bolle skilfully and methodically searched the entire base. "Can you hurry up and find it?" He sat down, back to the wall. Bolle looked annoyed at himself.  
"Well, there is the problem of me trying to figure out this pass code." Bolle told Author.  
"Then figure it out." Author looked calmly at Bolle, who was frantically pounding the keyboard, in his haste to try to find the core.  
He nearly shouted out, but calmed down and said quietly, "I'm trying!" He hit a few wrong keys, and a light came on. Author silenced it. "Well, be quick. Try not to hit any more wrong keys. I can't keep silencing the alarms." Bolle nodded and resumed work at a steadier pace.  
_Watching them carefully, three Hunters lurked behind them in the shadows. They initiated a mind-link with their master who issued orders. The Hunters remained in the shadows_.

Grace waited. Then Carol came outside. "Grace? The Council wants to see you. I'm done, so you're free to go in"  
"See you Carol"  
Then she walked inside. Eleven pairs of eyes looked at her.  
Josh started. "Grace, we need to talk to you┘"  
"What about?" Grace then dropped to the floor.  
John stood up and examined her. "She's passed out. Still tired from whatever Bracken did to her"  
Scooty looked at Grace. "What did he do"  
Licaia turned to Scooty. "Torture, freezing, the usual. What's most amazing is that he didn't kill her"  
Josh looked at her. "Why"  
It was John who answered. "I don't know. He made a taunt to us about taking the world, but not destroying it. I wonder what he's talking about"  
Josh shook his head. "Knowing him, he probably will destroy it. It was bad enough with The Dark Lady threatening to destroy the planet, without Bracken adding to it"  
Bart looked at Josh. "No. She is gone. She won't threaten the world, but Bracken might have found a way to destroy a planet. The Dark Lady found the technique through her own power. Bracken is nowhere near as powerful. The only other being in existence who could match that is Grace"  
Josh shook his head. Roy then redirected the conversation. "What happened to Grace then Licaia"  
Licaia looked at Grace's prone form. "He was reshaping the internal organs, and then freezing them into place. Started the freezing process, but never finished it. She was out cold when we, me and John, found her"  
Scooty looked back at Licaia. "That is amazing she even survived the torture. Should we tell her when she┘" She was cut off by Josh.  
"No. She must not be told yet." Josh looked tiredly at her. "Get her back to her room. We shouldn't have done this so close after what happened. There'll be time later, I'm sure. She cannot be told yet." Other Masters nodded in agreement.

Bolle finished with the computer. He looked at Author triumphantly.  
"Got it!" He said. "The core of this plant needs to be subject to extra heat in order for it to go sky-high." He turned away from the computer, which was now a sparking heap.  
Author smiled. "So there is something to destroy." He started down one corridor.  
"There is something to destroy!" Bolle watched him. "Wrong corridor"  
Author tried the second corridor. Again, Bolle said "Wrong corridor"  
Author turned around to face Bolle. "Tell me you know where"  
Bolle nodded. "Follow me." He turned down the third corridor. I could've figured it out eventually. It was the only corridor I didn't go through. Bolle laughed quietly at him, knowing what he thought. Then they set off down the corridor. Bolle looked at Author who was trailing him. Best let him know who I am later. Author looked behind him, and saw no one. But he still had that feeling that he and Bolle were being followed.  
Author was quite right. There were three Hunters observing them. They watched carefully as Author and Bolle quietly ran off towards the power core. Then they turned and followed.

Author and Bolle saw the core at the end of the corridor.  
Author spoke his nagging suspicions. "Bolle, something is wrong here"  
"Like what?" Bolle looked around the corridor.  
"There aren't any Hunters here"  
Then, a rough voice said, "Turn around first, and then you will see"  
Hunters. They had followed them.  
Author's voice quavered slightly. "Bolle"  
Bolle replied, confident as always. "Yeah"  
Author looked at him directly. "Hit the core, then 'port outta here"  
"You sure about that?" Bolle looked back at him.  
Author nodded. "Yes. See you later"  
"All right then"  
Bolle ran. Author stayed still. "Turn around, an' meet your destiny," a quiet voice said.  
"No. You meet yours"  
Then Author Charles attacked. In front of him, there were three smouldering remains, which had belonged to three Hunters, now just three steaming piles of ash. And one Witch. She flew at him. Author stepped aside, and watched as the Witch fired a freezing flame at him. He stopped it, and fired a ball of flames back at her. She transformed into a Demon spawn, which looked a lot like a cross between a Demon and a lizard. It hissed and spat hundreds of poisoned barbs at him. He teleported behind her and froze the Witch. She then transformed into a Lava Demon, melted the ice and started firing molten lava at him. He heard Bolle hit the core, and the factory started to shake and crumble, He heard Bolle teleport out, and so he followed suit, leaving the Witch to die in the factory.

Grace walked back to her parent's house. It was a smouldering ruin.  
Jeff turned around and ran out to greet her.  
"Grace. You came back. I thought you lost when the house burned down┘ I wouldn't have been able to live otherwise┘" Jeff trailed off as Grace prepared to speak what she didn't want to say.  
"Jeff, I have work to do. You may not see me again for a very long time"  
Jeff was disappointed. "That's how it's always been with you Grace. But what work are you doing now"  
"Um... Business for the magazine"  
Bolle looked unconvincingly at her. "Okay. Then I guess I'd better say bye now." He walked over to her, and hugged her. Grace kissed him quickly. Then Jeff turned away to comfort his parents. Grace walked away, and she looked back at him, looking unhappily at her retreating figure. She sighed and continued on.

Author and Bolle ran. Behind them, a Hunter training facility went up in flames, Author calling for the team to run.  
"We gotta go before the Headhunters get here"  
Bolle looked at Author frantically, "teleport to where"  
"Outpost Beta." Bolle nodded. They concentrated hard, and they teleported out, and shortly reached the wave carved and solidified into rock. "Odd┘ No one out here to greet us." Author said. Then someone came walking out.  
Author reached their host first. "Grace"  
"What?" Grace looked tired.  
"What are you doing?"  
"Waiting." She nearly fell asleep - she looked like Death's head. Looked like she hadn't slept in several weeks - which was close to the truth.  
Bolle cut in. "What for?"  
"You." Grace looked up at him, her face haggard. Bolle then asked what Grace wanted to hear.  
"What happened"  
"I need your help." Author was thinking hard. What could he do?  
"You don't." Author placed a comforting arm around her. Then Bolle started walking towards the hidden entrance, and addressed Grace as he walked past.  
"Me 'n Author just destroyed a Hunter facility and we need to report this. C'mon Author." Bolle strode into the Outpost, and didn't look back. "See you around then, Grace." Author looked back at Grace, who was on the verge of collapsing.

Author looked at the Master of the Order of the Sun, Josh Rocker.  
"You haven't told her"  
"No"  
"Licaia, John: We need to talk in private"  
Josh sighed and said, "Bolle and everyone else, we are adjourned for the moment. Good to know that we will have fewer Hunters to fight later. I could use a drink now. Anyone up for a few rounds?" Nine hands flew up. "Very well then. Drinks are on me." The majority of the Council departed the room, leaving John, Licaia and Author alone. Author's voice rose. "Why didn't you tell her"  
John glanced at Licaia. "Calm down Author. We didn't tell her because it wasn't the correct time. When it is, then she will be told." Licaia looked more apologetic every minute.  
Author then looked at her. "She won't be happy. What happened next"  
John exchanged a quick glance with Licaia. Then he continued from Licaia. "Since she still has the power of her former self, she destroyed Bracken's private ship, _the Duress_." He snickered a bit with Licaia.  
Author had a sudden sense of foreboding. "And..."  
John and Licaia smiled, but it was John who answered, "It rained shrapnel over Uluru for about three days"  
Author looked at John. "Excuse me"  
"You heard me"  
"She did what again"  
"She destroyed the Duress and made it rain metal for three days"  
For the first time in days, Author felt like laughing. Then it burst out. Something he hadn't done in a long time.

Grace walked along the corridors until she found the Council Chamber. Inside, laughter was heard, so she walked in to find John, Licaia and Author laughing at something.  
"What's so funny"  
Licaia was still laughing out loud, but managed to make out the words "You," "Bracken's plane" and "Uluru"  
Grace looked at them all curiously. "Was that the plane that rained shrapnel over Uluru for three days"  
John tilted his head. "Yes. That. No seriously, it was. Who has ever heard of shrapnel rain for three days? We'd normally be having one hour of rain. That's it." Then John and Author started laughing again.  
"So that is funny." Grace was utterly bemused.  
"Yes it is." Licaia started laughing again.

Bracken watched as Grace's parents-in-law were taken into his custody. They would be killed later.  
"Store them with the rest," he ordered. "Someone is missing"  
Then a Super Nova captain addressed him, "Sir, one managed to get away"  
"Where did he go"  
"To the Order of the Sun. The place is apparently called Outpost Beta by our source"  
Bracken turned around and stormed out of the room. Still, one thought prevailed. The Dark Lady lives still. Now, if he could untie the knots her father and the Order had placed around her, she would become his new toy, while she carried out his battles, he would scheme and plan more ways to conquer the galaxy. And then the universe. One way or another, he would rule.

Grace was watching Jeff walk up to the wave rock that housed Outpost Beta, his blue car in the background. She whispered a few words, and the car disappeared, Jeff turning around in surprise. Grace sighed. She would have to level with him, but one question still bugged her. How did he know where to find her?  
"Jeff. What are you doing here?" She whispered. Jeff just stopped and stood still, looking for her. Grace went down to meet him. "Jeff, what are you doing here? And how did you find me?" She regretted it, because he looked really troubled.  
Jeff evaded the question. "Grace. I don't think this is work. But you should know that I still love you and I always will. But I need to ask you something"  
"What?" Grace suddenly remembered what was going to happen. Then Jeff asked it out loud for the first time in a long time.  
"Will we still be married"  
Grace looked at him in surprise. "You know we will be, because I still love you Jeff"  
"Then that's all I need"  
Then they met passionately. John had walked outside to see them, "look at the lovebirds"  
They separated quickly. "Spying John?" Grace asked.  
"No." He replied. "Someone else was here. Just checking to make sure they're not a spy or something similar"  
Grace sighed. "Jeff"  
"What?" Jeff stopped studying John.  
"Why do your parents hate you?" She asked bluntly.  
"I wouldn't say hate," Jeff said. He chuckled a bit. "But it's because of you"  
"Just checked John. That's Jeff alright"  
"Good enough for me." Then he turned around and went back inside.

_Someone vaguely familiar stood in front of her┘ "Strike now!" He called to the people around him. "Kill them all"  
Someone behind her screamed. "There... Take..." Someone else screamed. It was pure chaos._

Someone else was running up to her, and two people standing next to her.  
John heard something strange. He looked in Grace's room. She appeared to be having a nightmare, but they were harmless. Until she exploded.

_"There isn't any┘" Then the boy was dead before he hit the ground, a dart sticking into his neck There was something strange going on here._

John had to shut the door quickly. He opened it again, and found destruction that wasn't there before. The past was catching up to her - and the Order. He closed the door and ran off.

_"Aargh!" someone next to her blew apart with more force than a bomb.  
Then something else fired at her, but she stopped it and the gunman was enveloped in flames, and he died screaming. Someone else near her was killed._

Then she skipped to the future.  
The world was beautiful. But it was on fire. The fire consumed all of the land on the planet. There was no blue left on the planet. It was all red and green with small smudges of white across the surface. Missiles rained down from orbit and some came back from the surface to hit the ship that lay in orbit. They hit, but left little more than a small scratch on the hull. And above it all, there was someone. Standing over Bracken's body, triumphant. Then she saw herself gesture at someone, and the core of the planet was exposed. A large missile flew down to the core and detonated, destroying the world. She then turned to watch the planet be destroyed and looked at her reflection - and she found herself staring back...

Grace woke again. As before, the lampshades were smashed and the closet doors were burnt, except now her bed was close to being burnt too. The door opened. "Grace?" It was Bolle.  
"A nightmare"  
Bolle walked in. "Something's wrong here and you know that was no nightmare. You saw something that scares you, and you react unconsciously. Best see Licaia soon, before this gets out of hand. We can't keep repairing the damaged stuff you know"  
"I'll see her later today then"  
Bolle's face lightened. "That is good"  
"Still reading minds"  
"No. Reading minds is not what I do." Grace looked at him more carefully. There was something else there that she couldn't quite make out.  
"What do you do then"  
"I can see below the surface of all lies and truths and can discern what a person is feeling at any time and see what is written in their mind before they are aware of it themselves. I can also hide my own thoughts from those who would pry there"  
"Then I will try to see Licaia today then." Bolle turned around and headed back to his bed.  
"Okay. That is all I can ask as your teacher." Bolle closed the door behind him. Grace lay back in bed, trying to imagine what would happen if Jeff was also in the room. He would have been killed, was her last thought before she drifted off again.

During the morning, Licaia was talking to Grace.  
"You had another dream." Licaia looked more troubled than ever before.  
"Yes. It was a war, of unimaginable destruction. Missiles raining down┘ People dying and war came to the world"  
Licaia made a note on a pad she had with her. "These visions occur when sleeping correct"  
Grace searched her memory. "Yeah. I saw myself standing over Bracken's dead body too. I wonder what this means, as the Black Army flag was flying behind me"  
Licaia could only stare. "Then what"  
Grace heard herself whisper, "I teleported into orbit and watched the world be destroyed." Licaia looked back at Grace in horror.

Grace walked into the main mess hall, and found Author, Bolle, Carol and John talking with each other.  
"The total fire count in residential areas had increased. This cannot be ignored," John was saying. "I should know. I am the strongest in fire, and this does not look natural.  
"It is still the first increase in a very long time. The rest were bushfires." Carol looked to Author for support. "Author"  
Author was still reading the paper. "These fires look cursed. Also, the flames that destroyed all the others were cursed, but blew themselves out"  
"How?" Bolle was sceptic. "I thought cursed fire had to be magically put out"  
Author was puzzled. "I don't know how, but I will find that out"  
Bolle looked at Grace. "Hi Grace. Guess what happened? What is happening"  
"Am I supposed to know"  
"Not really, but Author is now on the Council since The Gaoler died." Bolle looked happy. "But I skirt the real issue"  
"Which is"  
Author leaned in close to Grace. "Cursed fires are increasing around Australia"  
John looked to Grace. "I think you need to go look and find out what is happening"  
Grace nodded. "Okay." She left the table, walked out of the room and started looking for her things. "I'll need help on how to teleport around you know." Author and Bolle exchanged glances at each other then Bolle said, "Okay. I'll help you a bit with it. It takes practice like all other things."

She finally understood the concept of teleportation three hours later. She looked around the inside of the Outpost, and with Bolle watching, she tried to teleport out. She only ended up hitting her head on the ceiling.  
"Ouch." She said after she dropped to the floor.  
Bolle chuckled to himself. "You need to be outside silly." He said to her. Grace then just grunted at him. A sound of non-commitment.  
Then Bolle led her outside. "Try again Grace." He said. Grace then managed to make a shaky teleport away from the Outpost and towards Bracken. But where he went wasn't a problem. All Grace had to do was want to go somewhere, and the teleportation ability would take her there.

Roger watched as a group of Headhunters marched past the Outpost. I should pursue them. He thought, but then I alert them to the presence of the Order. What to do? He pondered this for a while. He then punched in the numbers for the Council. He quickly explained who was outside. Josh gave the go-ahead, and so with the Council happy with him, Roger took a few steps back from the window and jumped outside to engage the Headhunters.

Bracken watched with satisfaction as another house burned down. One at a time, he thought as he watched the house next to it catch fire. Destruction and chaos are my favourite pastimes. But what was his servant doing here?" "Sir, it seems the non-magical people are onto you." The servant - he never remembered his name - loved to talk to himself. Bracken watched as the Fire Brigade ran up to the house and started to try to put the fire out, but it was evaporated before it could reach the flames.  
Bracken looked at this servant. "They'll never catch me." His servant nodded.  
"As you wish sir, but I think you should know that they might find out about you sir. We should go soon before we are discovered." Bracken turned back to the burning scene, and its idiocy, the firemen running around not able to do their jobs. He muttered to himself more than anyone else, "Not before I give my last gift"  
A few muttered words and the spell was complete. Bracken turned around in satisfaction at his servant, who teleported back to the Wyvern. Bracken turned around, and with a few more silent mutterings, killed all the survivors and the firemen. He took the children with him and teleported into orbit. The fires behind him burnt with a bright red colour, as if signifying the fight to come.

Grace watched as Bracken teleported away from the burning buildings. He thought he had killed everyone, but Grace had stopped him. With a muttered word, the fires slowed and blew themselves out. People staggered out, looking curiously at their houses, wondering what caused them to blow out. What was Bracken doing? Grace thought to herself. The people below her view started talking quickly to each other. Although it seemed like they were saved by the Fire Brigade, they had no idea of their true saviour. Grace quietly walked away. Some things in their lives were best left unanswered. This was one of them.

The Headhunters reacted as soon as Roger leapt outside. He killed three in the space of two seconds, but the other four came at him from all sides. Roger teleported out and emerged behind two, who he killed quickly. The other two threw their Silencers at him. Roger killed both the Headhunters, and turned to stop the Silencer, but it was too late. It hit him square on the neck. His body crumpled and his head flew off, hit the rock and slowly slid down onto the ground. He didn't feel anything.

Bracken looked over his human army. More than one hundred thousand people enhanced with his magic stood ready and waiting. And, the centrepiece, the Elite Hunters. Faster, stronger and more powerful, they would kill any in their way to achieve their goals. They had a change of appearance, to confuse the Order. After about half an hour of waiting, he spoke to his army, four microphones carrying his speech across to his armies all prepared for war. This was his speech:  
"Today, we go to wage a war. The Black War. A war that will build an empire lasting one hundred trillion years, to the end of the universe itself, the end of time, knowledge and space. When the stars all die and only we survive. We will build an empire that shall never die, even though the stars might. We will bring order and peace to the galaxy. Today is a new beginning. Remember, if you die during the war, you will not be forgotten. Your sacrifice recorded and honoured. Betrayal will be common within the enemy, but not here. You have pledged loyalty to me, to the Cause and to the Darkness that is to come. The Black Empire will rise, and never fall. Today is the beginning of the end"  
With that, he bowed to an audience who was applauding loudly, turned away with a wave and prepared for war, the armies preparing to move out. War with the earth came first. Fight them and win, then concentrate on the rest of the galaxy. He could almost hear his mentor talking to him still. 'To bring the world under one rule, gain control of one continent. From there, build an empire and expand, destroying all the major powers. Then focus on taking a world. From there, build your interstellar empire'  
Bracken nodded. He would build the Black Empire. Unite the remnants of the Shadow Alliance and take the title of the Emperor in his new Empire, the Galactic Imperial Order, then to wage war on the Universal Federation of Free Enterprise. One way or another, he would rule the Universe. My motto is I will rule the Universe. I should remember that well. Bracken thought as he walked away. He would have to extend his time into capturing Grace again, and make her join his army.

Josh started. "We need to think about what we can do about Bracken and his movements, for he is obviously trying to start a war with the world"  
John leant forwards and said, "He will attack - one group to each continent probably. The first will land here, then others will land across the world. We need to set up the sight filter again, but on a larger scale"  
Author looked at him. "That will take time. We can set it up for small engagements. For this reason, I think that we should assign a few people to each state in the world"  
Roy looked at Author. "Do we have that many people"  
Josh nodded at Roy. "We have enough. The Council will have to remain here with the younger people, and Grace will have to remain here as well. We are here to defend the fort so to speak." Author got out of his chair and started pacing around the room, agitated.  
"Bracken is moving," he started, "and according to what we have observed, he has huge numbers at his command." He looked around the room at everyone. "We need to know for sure, however, so we can minimize civilian loss. Now, what will he do afterwards is the question"  
"After his invasion?" Licaia asked, John nodding in agreement.  
"Yes." Josh answered. "We need to know that, and maybe then we can save more lives in the process. It seems Bracken will do pretty much anything just to achieve his goals, no matter who stands in the way. In fact, I don't think he really cares at all. But then again, he might care. There seems to be an ulterior motive to his declaration of war"  
"And what would those 'ulterior motives' be if they do exist?" Scooty asked.  
"World domination, becoming emperor of the Universe are his main motives. He needs to start somewhere, and one of the least technologically advanced planets seems like a good choice, but the world's capacity for war is nearly unlimited. I wonder how many people will die because of this. His motives seem to suggest that something else is going to happen." John answered.  
Scooty shook her head at John. "Ah. I didn't realize that taking Bracken and his army down would be so simple. Shall I pack a lunch for us"  
Carol turned her laptop towards her, ignoring the sarcasm. "I think that he needs to really take America and China and India out before he can do anything else. Australia and England and Europe and Russia would be next for him I think." "So, we need to defend here the larger countries first," John said.  
Licaia nodded. "Yes. If he fails with his first invasion, he will immediately go to Africa and raise an army there, and take Europe and Asia. He will attack America last if he has to, but wants America out of the way quickly. I think that's what he will do anyway"  
"And it was said with such confidence." Josh stated. Carol and Roy glared at him.  
"This is going to turn into a nuclear war, maybe starting World War III," Catherine was starting to get worked into a panic. "This is why we needed to free-"  
Scooty cut through the argument. "No. It is not the time to discuss past failing. Discuss the here and now."  
"Agreed. We must turn his attack into a defeat for him, and kill Bracken, so he cannot threaten us or anyone again." Josh was resigned. "I severely dislike wars"  
John then spoke up. "What of Gregory's prophecy concerning the Order?"

Josh looked at John, and recited,  
"This is Gregory's last prophecy before he was killed in the last Black War.  
The darkness will fall upon the world,  
A man, whose faГade is brighter than his conscious will come.  
War, mistrust and death will follow in his wake.  
With the inaction, comes destruction.  
The Universe will convulse and will be ringed in fire.  
The Order dies with the Earth.  
Licaia broke the silence. "Then we must take an active role in the war"  
Josh shook his head. "We can't. Not yet. We must wait until the war begins"  
Roy then spoke to the Council at large. "Then let us make our plans for war."

Bracken looked over the planet as his army started to invade the planet. He wanted a war for his own motives, not for power. No, no, no. For another reason, completely unrelated to the motives he put forward. If he succeeded in his gamble, he would rule the planet. If not, then the planet would be stronger for it. But for now, it was time to plan a war - and he had a secret. He would reveal it to the Order in time. Until then, he would keep that secret to himself. And the other secret concerning Grace Willows and the future of the Universe. But would she survive the war? Only time would tell, before he revealed his true intentions.

Josh leant forward. "We have heard that Roger was killed, so the Black Army will know where we are." Then the wave they sheltered in broke apart. The people inside found themselves outside their sanctuary and surrounded by the Black Army. They stared at each other for about five seconds. Then the sky was filled with fireballs and lightning. The fight had begun again.

Grace looked around quickly, then understood the situation. She exploded into action. The Hunters around her died. Author watched in fascination. He came close to being killed had Scooty knocked him out of the way. He turned around to watch his would-be killer fall screaming, with Gorah clinging to him. He died writhing in pain on the ground as the Gorah slowly devoured him. Author looked away, feeling sick and it wasn't because of breakfast either. He turned around and vented his feelings into a group of Head Hunters who were advancing on Grace with deadly intent.

Grace only turned around and saw the group of Head Hunters walking towards her. Then they all kneeled over as if hit by something. Grace looked curiously at them - until they vomited onto the ground. She looked around and saw Author pointing at them. The Headhunters on the ground burst into flames, and left behind a small pile of ash where they once stood. Author looked up. There was an altar there for a group celebrating mass. He looked at them horrified. The people sitting down stared at him, then the Black Army behind him. Then pandemonium rang out.

Carol immediately leapt for one end of the Black Army, while Josh leapt for the other end. Carol turned her attention to their commander who was a tall thuggish looking brute. She watched him carefully, suddenly aware that the people around her were forming a large circle around her. She nodded towards her opponent, then leapt backwards and released a large burst of energy. Everyone around her fell to the ground. Then the thuggish commander then fired off a curse at her, which missed Carol closely. She countered by firing off a fireball, which caught his shirt and immediately burnt his clothes off in a few seconds. Then he roared loudly and Carol found herself swamped in enemies. She grinned. Sonic noises would help her a lot here.

Josh caught his gaze with Carol. Then he and Carol had leapt for opposite sides. He landed on the other side of the Black Army, and started to fire off large bursts of sonic energy. Hunters and Witches fell to the ground, in several hundred pieces. Josh sighed and looked at the hundreds more advancing towards him. It was a marvellous waste of resources. He resigned himself to battle and ran to engage.

Grace found Bracken, who was firing curses and fireballs in all directions and one flew towards her. She ducked, and a hunter behind her screamed loudly as the fire consumed him. She turned to face Bracken again. She got as far as cursing him, before she was hit from behind by something sharp. She fell to the ground.  
John Woram watched the entire engagement lasting for about ten seconds. He then teleported behind Bracken, who spun around to face John, "So, this is where you hid." Bracken said. John replied, "but you found it." Bracken laughed.  
"I certainly did. You can't hide from me," he said. John took momentary advantage of his distraction, laughing and fired. Bracken teleported away and emerged in the air. John flew up, and they started fighting. Licaia rose up behind Bracken, who redirected a stream of plasma from John at Licaia, who promptly transformed it into a flying Demon, which flew at Bracken. He teleported away and found refuge on the remains of the rock, while the Fire Demon flew overhead spewing molten rock onto the Black Army.

Josh met up with Carol in the middle of the fighting. "We need to get out here." He said. Carol agreed, "we need to get to the Monolith. That can sustain an attack forever if we need it to." Josh sat down, while Carol killed anyone that came too close to them. All around the country, members of the Order were called back to the Monolith.

Grace looked around. She had heard someone say Get to the Monolith soonest. She spotted Josh and Carol. Author pulled her aside. "We need to stop the Black Army while everyone else escapes." Author said. Grace looked at him. The road between them flew up as something hit it. While Grace sprang away to fight, Author looked closer. It was a small white explosive canister. Author looked around for the grenadier, and found someone aiming another canister at him. Author made his mind up.

Grace turned around and saw someone fighting Author. It flew down, and nearly took Author's arm off. Wondering who it was, Grace turned and ran at whoever it was. It turned around, kicked Author away and turned to face Grace. She saw the face of her opponent √ who had bright blue eyes. She felt herself slide away, until she saw a large ball of orange and red fly towards her, which Author somehow managed to block from three meters away. He then fired a lightning bolt at it, who then stepped away, disappeared in a flash of smoke and appeared behind Author. He teleported away and emerged next to Grace, who was firing a pistol at it where she found it was beyond him and by the look of it, had a small degree of success. Author and Bracken's companion flew in and met midair with a loud bang! And Grace had to drop to the ground, or she would've had her head taken off, as a Headhunter took a swipe at her back. She rolled over and fired her gun at the Headhunter and it dropped dead. She smiled and turned to face other Headhunters.

Author watched as It, he decided to call it, gathered energy for a large cannon strike, it was huge. It was about half the size of a car and it had small sparks flying over the surface. It launched the ball and Author teleported out of harm's way - no way was he going to try to stop that. It then screamed in anger as Author retaliated. The lightning bolt hit It square in the chest. It spun and teleported away.

Meanwhile, everyone in the Order had managed to make their way to the Monolith a large structure that was tall and quite wide. Like Building, it could move but only to escape or for defence or for mounting an attack. It was resistant to the most common forms of energy, fire and lightning. If there was one major weakness in the Monolith - no one had found one yet.

Bracken was watching the entire battle. My, my. He thought to himself. She does have power. Even after all this time. I wonder what else she is capable of. His companion had performed beautifully, nearly taking Author's arm off and nearly killing him. She looks like she can do more than is obvious. He then turned back to his companion.  
"Mission accomplished sir." His companion said. Bracken thanked it for its effort and he then gave it its next orders and his companion left Bracken alone, contemplating the future. One day, this will all be mine. Even if she remembers herself as the Dark Lady, she will not have power to match mine now. She is of now, powerless against me. He stood up, satisfied, and walked out of his office. It was a beautiful day on the surface by the looks of it. It was overcast and cold. His favourite kind of weather. He then decided to take a trip to the surface and take the rest of the day off. He had displaced the Order again and discovered the truth after all this time. He deserved a little break.

Author marched through the corridors of the Monolith until he found Grace's room. By the look of it, it had been recently cleaned. And it looked like Jeff had moved in, a sure sign that Grace had overcome her problems, but he still intended to address them. He walked into her room and found Grace lying in bed sleeping. He chuckled to himself. Of course she would be sleeping at 3 pm. He thought. But he was wrong. Grace sat up. "Author, before you start worrying, wait." She looked intensely at him. "You already are." Author looked at her uneasily. "Don't worry. I can control it all now." Author felt reassured slightly. "Jeff won't have to worry anymore. I'm still talking to what's-her-name." Author looked at her curiously. "Licaia Woram," she said. "Good. I hope you will be okay." He said. Grace nodded. "I will be." Author was happy for Grace. Then Grace spoke again, "there's really a war coming isn't there?" She asked. Author shook his head.  
"There's nothing coming Grace"  
"There is a war isn't there Author. Please be honest." She said, Author sighed. This wasn't how he wanted to tell her. He took a breath and prepared to talk.

Josh looked at Scooty. "How many people in the Black Army were killed"  
Scooty looked at the laptop that was in front of her. "Over two hundred were killed by just us in the room. The majority went to Author and Grace funnily enough. Those two look like they have enough power between them to pretty much kill the Black Army." Josh looked at Carol, who nodded supporting him.  
"Then we need to find a way to match their progress as the war goes on I guess." The other members of the Order agreed. Josh leant back in his chair. This wasn't the best time to appear to be a pacifist - not when a war was coming.

"There is a war coming, and it all will reflect on how you act. This war is about you. Bracken recognises that with you at his side, he has power to destroy the universe. With us, you have the power to save the universe. It depends on your actions. You must choose wisely." Grace then dropped back into her bed. Author got up and started walking to the door. "You'll be all right Grace." He walked out, but Grace stopped him. "What about you Author?" She asked. Author stopped and turned around. "I'll be ready. I have chosen a side and I will defend it to the end." Author walked over while he was saying this and sat down next to Grace. "What about you?" He asked. Grace sat up looking determined. "I'll be ready."

_And so, the Order of the Sun began to make plans for war against the Black Army.  
Soon, secrets will be told and more will be kept. The Earth shall be plunged into a war, like it has never seen before, with friends and their enemies working together to survive. _

_It was here that I found the true meaning of friendship and happiness, but the next chapter of my story changed all that. The War came. And so did the Black Army, Nuclear Weapons and another arms race, each country running to produce more weapons of war. The Earth is preparing for a war on a scale unknown to anyone. Weapons of destruction are being produced around the world - in preparation of a war of survival. It is this day, that the Earth discovers extra-terrestrial life and decide to take their place in the Galaxy. It is on this day that people all around the World call for arms, as they recognize their existence hangs in the balance. _

_Here is where I leave you. Think upon Gregory's prophecy (See below). She who would rise would end the war. She is ignorant of her fate now. The Council plans, Bracken schemes in orbit around the planet and below, the world prepares for a war, like it has never seen. If there is one thing after all my time, I never knew how the world knew of Bracken's threat. They should have recognized it after Bracken took his first conquest, but they were fighting him since the beginning. With everyone preparing for war, mistrust is sown everywhere. With it comes apathy. Apathy leads to death. Apathy leads to death. Apathy leads to death. _

_With death, the world is at war. The galaxy will then be at war. Then the Universe will be at war, and war will last forever if nothing is done. Alliances will be broken and made but betrayal will be rife in the Universe._

_For more than forty years, the Earth will be ringed in flames and smoke. With the coming of Bracken's Black Army, the war begins. The greatest war the Earth has ever seen. It is the Neo-Nuclear War, the greatest and the deadliest war in the history of the planet.. People will die, and the world will shake to its core. Nothing will remain untainted by war and darkness will fall across the Earth. _

_Upon reflection, and although this sounds bad, but there is nothing like a major threat, magic, alien, or in this case, both to unite the Earth. War brings people together, and people who were enemies listen to each other. But war is wrong. People shouldn't be dying. But now they do. On this eve of war, Presidents, Prime Ministers and Leaders from all over the world meet and form the United Forces of Earth (UFE), to defend against this new threat. If there was one bit of good I did during this time before war, I managed to create a peace between the Order of the Sun and the UFE. I returned as a hero, but I wasn't a hero in my own eyes. Yes, I gained the support of the world, but I also accelerated the coming of war. Something I am not proud of even to this day. But I am proud of who I am._

_I now leave you here, with the Order of the Sun preparing for war. Bracken scheming more nefarious plans and the world set for a war like none ever seen before. I really need to rest. Writing this has made me so tired, and I have been writing for the past three months. That is three months closer to my death. It has been the past three months that have been the most valuable, for I have been with my friends and family as I wrote this text. It is time well worth spent. _

_It has taken me a long time to write all this. It has taken three months. Three months of writing, towards my death. I finish here for the moment, but I ask of you one final question. _

_**Where will you be when the war begins?** _

_This text has been protected by the White Mage,__ with the approval of the Sect of Cultifaxitoriouss. This text may not be changed without specific permission from the Original author of the text.  
This text is titled "The Calm before the Storm." Do not copy. Any unauthorised copying of this text is classified as illegal and will not be tolerated by anyone within the Order - Master or otherwise._


End file.
